Gundam Naruto
by kelsoei
Summary: Naruto, but with giant robots rather than ninjas. Naruto is a soldier, trained from birth, but he struggles to keep up with more naturally talented pilots like that bastard Sasuke. He wants to be the greatest pilot in the solar system, end the war, and make the old man happy. But when he gets a call from big brother Itachi, everything he thought he knew is thrown into question.
1. Pilot Part 1

**Pilot Episode**

**Author's Note: **This isn't too different from what I posted before, so if you read this when it was originally posted about a year ago I apologize. I'm trying to gauge interest for the story before I actually start plotting. If you want me to continue, just read all the way through the first three parts.

**Part 1**

"Hey Bastard, I bet I can beat you to Heliopolis," Naruto said. The space colony was represented as a tiny dot on the monitor of his mobile suit, with an indicator above it citing a bunch of its stats. It was a military base hidden in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter that housed around thirty thousand enemy soldiers, and dozens of scientists conducting cutting edge research. They were here to sabotage the work of Tsunade Senju, who was building some kind of super weapon for the space colonies. Why she did this Naruto didn't know, nor did he care. She probably believed in eugenics, and thought that the Naturals, naturally born humans that resided on earth, were inferior to the Coordinators, superhumans with genetically designed genomes that came from space. So yeah, Naruto wasn't gonna lose much sleep over destroying some space nazi's life work.

"Idiot," Sasuke said through the communication line. "We don't want to go charging in. This is a stealth mission. Besides, it's not like a loser like you could ever beat me."

Naruto growled. It was a lame comeback, but stung because it was kind of true. Sasuke had a knack for finding the solar winds and riding them to victory. Naruto wasn't on Sasuke's level, not yet, and he never would be if he stopped trying. Naruto flipped the switch for overdrive, rotated his suit, and shot exhaust blasters out of his feet. His ship, Gundam 04 codenamed Kurama, accelerated rapidly, but he'd lined up the track to Heliopolis perfectly, and the g-forces attacked him from head-to-foot rather than chest-to-back or shoulder-to-shoulder. Easy. He switched to his rear camera, and saw that Shikamaru and Shino lagged behind, in Gundam 05 codenamed Shadow and Gundam 06 codenamed Bug. But where was Sasuke?

A red, white, and blue Gundam with metallic angel wings flew past him. Sasuke's Gundam: The Strike. Naruto growled and glanced at the controls. At three switches right next to one another. He'd already pulled one, but he'd need the other two for the upcoming battle. It would be foolish and irresponsible to waste precious fuel on a juvenile race with a friendly riv- Sasuke's smug handsome mug flashed in Naruto's mind- but no matter how tempting it would be to knock the arrogant ace down a couple pegs Naruto would not endanger the mission on a petty rival-... Well it appeared he'd accidently pressed the switch. Oh well. Gundam 04 rocketed forward, but he still found himself eating The Strike's exhaust until Sasuke disappeared into a cloud of metal asteroids. Naruto switched to a 2-D view, viewing the many asteroids as moving dots on a map. He carefully darted through them, trying to take the quickest route to Heliopolis. This wasn't a videogame though, where a stray rock would bounce off your suit. Any debris that so much as nicked his Gundam would do tremendous damage to his shields. They were always useless against a direct hit, but could normally redirect two glancing blows before shutting down. He'd wasted about a third of his ship's energy when he'd used the boosters to keep pace with Sasuke, so his shields only had enough energy for a single deflection. If they went down he'd have to return to White Base for repairs, and explain to old man Fugaku why he'd come back before their mission had even begun. No, it was better to be careful. Slowly but surely, Heliopolis transformed from a speck to a… a… It looked kind of like an electric beater, the kind you mixed dough with. Only bigger, and with trees and buildings on it. And maybe… Naruto squinted. Could he actually see the Coordinators roaming on the streets below?

"Took you long enough, Idiot," Sasuke said through the communication line. Naruto glanced around, but couldn't find The Strike. Just a bunch of big floating lumps of space granite. "Above you deadlast."

Ahh. There he was. With Shikamaru's black suit, and Shino's camouflaged suit. Naruto hung his head as he joined the rest of his team. "You're still nothing compared to Itachi."

"What did you say?" Sasuke asked, his rage transparent through the communication line.

"I'm saying that if Itachi-"

"Shino," Shikamaru interrupted. "Have your drones found any holes in Heliopolis'es security yet?"

"..." said Shino. His mobile suit shook his head.

Naruto noticed a flashing light, indicating a call from a private communication line. He accepted.

"Why'd you have to go and bring up Itachi?" Shikamaru complained. Naruto thought he heard some scratching noises through the line. "You know how Sasuke gets. Now he's gonna act like a total psycho. Damn, this mission's gonna be a real pain!"

Naruto sighed. "I know, I know. It's just… All the girls think he's the greatest thing since instant ramen, and all the commanders act like he's the best pilot since Hiashi Hyuga. He's even got a loving father dammit! I'd give anything to have what he's got, and he treats it like it's garbage."

"I don't know if I'd call Fugaku loving," Shikamaru said, and Naruto heard something scratching. "But I get it, he's a jerk. He irritates me too, but we need him, Naruto. We need him at his best."

"No we don't," Naruto said. "If he weren't here I could be the ace."

"Right. Sure," Shikamaru sighed. "Just don't bring up Itachi again okay? And Naruto, one more thing."

"What?" Naruto asked flatly.

"What were the contributing factors that started The Great Solar War? I know you love this kind of stuff, and I can't get any reception here."

Naruto frowned. "You're doing your History homework now?"

"I told my mother I'd get it done before I left for the mission," Shikamaru said miserably. "But I was tired so I took a nap in the holo room instead. I didn't have a choice! They finally reinstalled meadow hill on a cloudy day! You know how long I've been waiting for that one to come back!"

It was Shikamaru's favorite thing to complain about: No clouds in the holo room. He'd even written a strongly worded email to the old man about it. A lot of people thought that Shika was just a lazy good-for-nothing who didn't care about anything, but they didn't know of his passion for clouds and slacking off.

Someday, Naruto wanted to be the pilot to end the war, and finally see the old man happy. Someday, Sasuke wanted to surpass his older brother and make his father proud. If Naruto didn't know any better, he'd think that someday Shikamaru wanted to grow up and be a cloud.

"It all started with President Minato Namikaze of the Forest Colony in Mars," Naruto said. Everyone always said he looked just like the tyrant. Shikamaru and Shino told him that the reason he'd never been adopted was because of the resemblance. It wasn't cuz there was something horribly wrong with him. They had both told him that separately, as they were taken from the orphanage by their new parents. Someday Naruto would find a couple who would see past his appearance and take him in as their own. But well… Naruto still had the old man, he didn't need any paren- fuck Minato Namikaze! Fuck him, fuck him, fuck him!

"He killed millions of Naturals. He put them in camps, and gassed them like animals! He was a real freak, but eventually we- this is for a report right?"

"Yeah," said Shikamaru.

"Alright, we meaning The Trade Federation and The Union of Free Citizens, the two most powerful countries on earth, found peace. President Sarutobi and Commander Danzou agreed that we needed to do something big, to stop Namikaze. So we nuked 'em." Naruto shook his head. It had been a horrible thing to do, but it had been the best option they'd had. The Forest Colony had been pure evil back then. "A lot of civilians died, but at least we got President Namikaze and stopped the genocide. But the other space colonies, they didn't like what we'd done. They didn't care that he'd been killing Naturals," Naruto scowled. Coordinators didn't age like Naturals, and didn't put any value on the death of someone who would have inevitably died of old age anyways. "The genocide didn't matter to them. They thought the nuclear strike was unprovoked. So they attacked earth with PLANTS. Machines that made fission impossible. They said it was to neutralize the threat of nuclear weaponry, but… Billions died of hunger." Naruto had been a toddler then. He remembered dark nights, cold days, worried whispers, and empty stomachs. They'd eaten rats, then pigeons, then minnows, and in the winter sometimes nothing at all. He'd gotten weak and skinny, but so had everyone else. He'd had it easy. The old man was rich, and had spoiled them all. He'd heard of families that had eaten their clothes, their pets, and then each other. "We had no choice. The fuckin' Coordinators wanted us all dead! We had to defend-"

"You're a Coordinator Naruto," Shikamaru said, his voice heavy with concern. "So am I. So are Shino and Sasuke."

"I know that," Naruto said, and he did. He needed to be more understanding if he wanted the war to end. "After the PLANTS, earth declared war on the Sound Colony on the Moon, and the Martian colonies Sand and Forest. The colonies of Jupiter: Wind and Rain are neutral, or at least that's what we thought until-"

"No," Shino yelled through the open line. "All our work!" Shino's camouflaged suit dashed out of cover, straight at Heliopolis. It was the kind of move Naruto normally pulled. "Don't worry, I'm coming!"

"Wait," Shikamaru cried. "It's just a drone. You'll blow our- Damn it Naruto."

Naruto had followed Shino. Sneaking around was a bullshit tactic anyways. That's why he'd painted Kurama bright orange. "No use keeping our cover now!"

A charged beam cannon flew past him and hit the colony. There was no sound in space, but Naruto could still see the impact. The translucent metal got red hot, melted, and the container ruptured. Air blew out of the colony, making the ruptured hole even larger, and sent a few transparent metal bits of shrapnel kareeming towards them. Naruto let out three of his gun bits, remote control cannons that flew and acted separately from the rest of his Gundam, and lazily blasted 'em.

Sasuke holstered his beam cannon, and equipped The Strike's lightsaber. There was some technical name for it, but it was a freakin' laser sword, so what else could it be but a lightsaber? Naruto wanted a lightsaber. All he got were nine gun bits and nine remote shields. Sasuke was lucky the old man was his daddy, because it meant he got all the best toys.

"You too Sasuke?" Shikamaru asked.

"The Idiot's correct," Sasuke said. "Our cover's blown. Gotta attack now."

Shikamaru sighed, and joined the other three Gundams, as they blasted their way into the colony. There was no gunfire or anything, just a bunch of gawking soldiers dressed in civilian clothes. The four of them landed in a tight formation on a grassy field. It was weird, the military base looked a lot more like a school than anything else. Maybe they'd landed in a training facility? Well it didn't matter, reinforcements would be coming quick.

A quick layout of Heliopolis appeared on Naruto's monitor. That was great, but they still had no idea where Tsunade's laboratory was.

"Shino, where's Tsunade's Lab?" Sasuke asked.

"..." Said Shino. His mobile suit shrugged and flew off. "My drone is in danger. I must save it."

"It was your duty to find the lab," Sasuke said through the line, though Naruto doubted Shino was listening. "You'd better find it, or my father will have your-"

"Get me to a computer," Shikamaru sighed. "One on campus, and I'll find it."

"Campus?" Naruto asked.

"Classified," Sasuke said. "You haven't earned the clearance for those mission details."

"We don't have time," Shikamaru said. "I'm going to one of the libraries to hack into their security systems and find Tsunade's Lab. Sasuke, once I've done that I'll send you its location. Your job will be to destroy it."

"Naruto," said Shikamaru. "I'm giving you remote access to my Gundam until I can get back into it. It'll be your job to stall enemy reinforcements. In the meantime I'm going to need you to create a distraction so I can get out of here without a bunch of students taking pictures and leaking my identity online."

Naruto nodded, and rotated his gun bits, firing energy blasts at the ground. Soldiers- no students- panicked as several tons of dust launched into the air in multiple concussive blasts. Good. Naruto kept on firing, riling them into a frenzy.

Shikamaru's skinny frame disappeared into the crowd of students, and Naruto recollected his gun bits. He navigated his menu, and confirmed that Shikamaru had given him access to his Gundam. Sweet.

Naruto put Shika's Shadow Gundam through a series of exercises and stretches. Once he had a good feel for how it moved, he reached for its famous shadow whip, and cracked it against the ground. It was useless in his hands, but Shikamaru could use it to take control of any enemy ship it came into contact with.

"Would you put that thing away," Sasuke snapped. "Anyone who has ever piloted a mobile suit is going to know it's empty now. Just sit and wait."

Naruto tried. But he quickly got bored. "Hey Sasuke, hey Sasuke. Don't you think that girl is kinda cute?"

"Which one?"

"The one with the pink hair and the big forehead," Naruto said, rolling his eyes. If Sasuke was a man he'd have instantly spotted the girl. Her forehead was so big, so large, he wanted to kiss it, and she was a real firecracker, throwing rocks at his Gundam and making obscene gestures with her hands. What an absolute dream girl.

"I don't see her," Sasuke said angrily. "It doesn't matter anyways. We're on a mission. You shouldn't be looking at girls."

"Hmm," Naruto said sagely. "Maybe when you're a little older you'll appreciate their beauty."

"Is it true that last year you dressed up as one? You braided your hair into pigtails, stuffed a bra, and put on a dress?"

"Of course it is," Naruto said proudly. "My time as Naruko taught me a lot about how a woman sees the world. You know that while I was Naruko I was totally asked out by three dudes? I'd make a kickass babe!"

Sasuke said nothing for a while. "You're such a fag- Head's up. Enemy reinforcements have arrived."

Dozens of Zakus, smaller mobile suits armed with a single rifle, poured through the hole Sasuke had blasted in Heliopolis'es sky. Most of the Zakus were gray and boring, typical mooks of the Forest Colony, but one in the back was green. It must've been the enemy ace. Naruto never got to fight the enemy ace. That was reserved for _Sasuke._ Everyone treated him like he was so great, but it was only because Naruto never got a chance to show what he could do. Well that ended now.

Naruto roared, and charged at the Zakus. They rained energy beams down on him, but Naruto made his shield bits dance around him, deflecting the blasts. Action got quick, and there was no time for full thoughts. Left-right-front center-weave-right-down-up-left-left-right. Suddenly he was through the wave of enemies, and staring face to face with the enemy ace. The Green Zaku held up an arm, and the rest of the Zakus crowded around but did not interfere. Common military etiquette. Naruto had finally earned himself an ace duel.

Alright, he spread out his gun bits and shield bits, and started to dance around the Green Zaku. It fired a few energy shots, but Naruto jittered away easily. Easy, easy. Now it was his turn. The gun bits fired, and the Zaku charged at Naruto taking several hits. Naruto smirked, it was only a matter of time till the Zaku's shields broke and then the battle was- Shit. The Zaku was in his grill, and it- when had it pulled out a knife? Fuck it, Naruto ducked, narrowly dodging the opponent's thrust, and used his boosters to retreat. Okay that had been too close, he really needed to foc- The Zaku threw the knife. It clanked against Kurama's chest, right against the cockpit, and Naruto's forehead slammed against the control dashboard...

He blinked a couple times... Heard ringing... In his ears… Where was… Where was he again?… Umm… What was that?... Alarms… Flashing lights… Shields down-

Oh-shit-he-was-in-the-middle-of-a-battle-he'd-taken-a-hit-and-now-his-shields-were-down-and-now-the-enemy-was-where-was-the-enemy-oh-there-it-was-it-had-caught-the-knife-apparently-and-now-it-was-about-to-thrust-it-into-the-cockpit-and-Naruto-didn't-have-time-to-stop-it-

He didn't have time to stop it. Here? Like this? This was how Naruto Shimura was going to die? So young, and with so many regrets? Why had he been so petty, so focused on what he didn't have? Why couldn't he have enjoyed it more? Why couldn't- The Green Zaku started its killing thrust.

The knife wasn't serrated, but its edge was coated in a vibrating energy. The blade was straight and crept closer and closer to Naruto's cockpit. The enemy's visor was dark and soulless, and he was stupid for looking at the head anyways. The pilot would be hidden in the Zaku's chest. Naruto had never cared to think much about the individuals inside the enemy ships, but now he wanted to look into the eyes of the man who killed him. Strange really, that it only occurred to him now that there were actually people inside-

The enemy's knife exploded as a beam of energy ripped through it. Sasuke holstered his beam cannon, drew his lightsaber, and flew up to meet the enemy ace. It was a breach of military etiquette, and the enemy Zaku's weren't pleased. They rained energy beams down on him. Naruto's shield bits raced down and deflected the blows. Sasuke flew through the enemy horde, and engaged with the Green Zaku that had gotten within a hair of disemboweling Naruto.

"Bastard, you know that it's forbidden to interrupt a duel," Naruto said over the line, engaging with several zakus.

"You were about to die, idiot," Sasuke said, parrying the ace's knife

"There are cameras all over the place." Naruto babbled. "You've ruined your reputation forever."

"Hnn," Sasuke grunted thoughtfully. He sliced off the ace's right hand. "Are you crying?"

"No." Naruto sniffed, and whispered, "Thanks Sasuke."

"Please don't make this-"

"I'm in," Shikamaru's voice rang through the communication line. "I was able to find the location of Tsunade's Laboratory. Sasuke, I'm forwarding it to you."

"Took you long enough Shikamaru. Idiot, let the ace follow. I'm not done with him," Sasuke said, and his Gundam dashed away, heading South with full boosters. The Green Zaku hurried after him, as did the rest of the horde. But Naruto cut them off.

"Your battle is with me," Naruto said, but of course they couldn't hear him through the heavy walls of their mobile suits. Nonetheless they appeared to have understood. They all shot at him in unison.


	2. Pilot Part 2

**Part 2**

Missions were such a drag. There were a bunch of dots on the computer monitor, all buzzing about, and Shikamaru had to think really hard to translate those dots into enemy and allied ships, analyze the enemy formations, assess the strengths and weaknesses of each individual pilot, and synthesize all that information into a coherent strategy. Such a pain!

"Shino," Shikamaru pressed the one key, and spoke into the microphone. "Have you saved your drone yet? We need you back."

"..." The line was static, except for the faint sound of breathing. "...Not yet."

Shino's Gundam was about thirty miles away anyways. It would take him a while to get back, but it'd sure ease some of Shikamaru's worries. Eventually he'd need someone to pick him up, or he'd be stuck in Heliopolis. Sasuke was on a mission critical assignment, and Naruto couldn't be trusted with Shikamaru's location, so that left only Shino.

"Alright man," Shikamaru said carefully. "Don't worry about us. You know how it is. It might be hard, but no matter how things look Naruto always ends up pulling through. I'm sure it'll be fine."

"..." Said Shino. "...Naruto's in trou-"

Shikamaru cut the line and groaned. Manipulating people was such a pain! It made him feel dirty, and he knew Shino would be looking at him sideways when he discovered Naruto mopping the floor with some mooks. Shino wouldn't be happy being used as a taxi, but…

Was Naruto running? Naruto's dot was acting as if it was repelled by the enemy Zakus, darting away from them whenever they swarmed. Shikamaru brought his fingers together. Naruto's greatest strengths were his fearlessness and his ability to fly multiple Gundams at the same time. It made him too reckless to fight in duels, but he could fight an army of average soldiers by himself. He'd done so multiple times, and he'd never flown this conservatively.

Shikamaru pressed the two button and spoke into the computer's microphone. "What happened Naruto?"

"Nothing," said Naruto.

"Your shields are down aren't they?" Asked Shikamaru.

Static. Shikamaru could almost hear the gears turning in Naruto's head. "What? Of course not!"

Shikamaru sighed. Mother would be illogically angry, even though none of this was his fault. Women could be so troublesome. "Naruto, return to White Base. We don't need you for this mission anymore."

"Bullshit!" Said Naruto. "If I don't defeat these Zakus, nobody will, and if they're still here we can't pick you up. You'll be stranded."

It was true. Shikamaru would have to go undercover for a while, but he'd be able to sneak out of Heliopolis eventually. He'd find a flight to Mars, and from there a flight to Earth. It might take a few months, maybe even a few years, but when it was all said and done Shikamaru would be okay. If Naruto got shot down though, the squad would… It would be like when they'd lost big brother Itachi.

"Naruto, as your commanding officer I'm ordering you to retreat and repair your ship."

"No! I'm not leaving you!"

Shikamaru bit his lip. Everything they said was being recorded. If the military wanted, they could comb through the records and charge Naruto with insubordination. At maximum he'd get the death penalty and at minimum he'd be dishonorably discharged. It might be tempting to think that they wouldn't do that to Naruto, who flew the most popular ship in the solar system, but it was Kurama who was famous, not Naruto. Shikamaru could still rescind the order. Then Naruto wouldn't be charged with insubordination. Instead he'd be killed in action.

Shikamaru said, "I repeat, retreat and repair your ship Naruto! That's an ord-"

"What are you still doing here?" Asked a pretty blonde girl, in the doorway of the computer lab. Shikamaru blinked. She was the most beautiful woman he'd ever seen in person, but probably only above average among the Coordinators. "Haven't you heard the alarms? You need to find the nearest shelter. We're under attack!"

"I'm… Uh…" Shikamaru didn't have time for this. "What are you doing here?"

"I'm making sure that geeky little dweebs like you don't get themselves killed. Listen kid, whatever term paper you're writing can…" The girl peered at the computer monitor. The one showing the battle.

Shikamaru forced himself to relax. To the untrained eye it would just look a bunch of dots moving around. "Yeah, I know it's a weird screen sav-"

"How do you have this?" The girl demanded. "This is a display of the battle! We need to send this over to command. Don't worry, I know how! My daddy's the head of interrogation!"

"Shikamaru, I'm hearing another voice," Naruto said urgently. "Are you sure your line is secure? I think someone is listening in!"

"Oh I see," The bossy girl bullied Shikamaru out of the way. "You're acting as support for one of the Zakus. Listen pilot, what's your name?"

"Naruto," said Naruto, breaching all kinds of security protocol. "Naruto Shimura! Remember it!"

Shikamaru groaned.

"I'm Ino Yamanaka," said Ino confidently. "Daughter of Inochi Yamanaka."

"Okay?" Naruto said hesitantly. "Can you put Shikamaru back on the line?"

"I'm the daughter of Inochi Yamanaka," Ino said again, obviously very impressed with herself.

"..." Said Naruto. And then a miracle happened. "My mistake Ino. I didn't realize you were the daughter of _The Inochi Yamanaka. _What can I do for you?"

Shikamaru let out a breath. Thank goodness Fugaku liked to parade them around famous people. It wasn't the first time Naruto had met someone he was supposed to have heard of.

"I've got information on the enemy ships," said Ino proudly. "There are three mobile suits in total. A black one, an orange one, and a multicolored one. The black one is a drone. You should be able to take it out easily, so target that one first. The orange one should be ignored. It's shields are down so the pilot is flying conservatively. He's not very skilled either, so the orange one definitely isn't a threat. Be careful of the multi-colored mobile suit. That pilot is as talented as an Uchiha. We're going to want to overwhelm him with numbers."

Well shit. Shikamaru wasn't used to listening to Coordinators. This cocky civilian girl had them completely figured out.

"...The orange pilot is actually pretty good," said Naruto eventually. "But thanks for your input. You've been a valuable asset to the war effort."

Shikamaru bowed, and Ino smiled. "Good luck soldiers." She skipped out of the room and finally left. God women were troublesome!

"What's an Uchiha?" Naruto asked curiously.

"Retreat and repair your ship Naruto! That's an order!"

"Are you still on that?" Naruto laughed. "I'm not going to leave you behind."

"This isn't a joke!" Shikamaru said impatiently. "This is a direct command: get the hell out of here!"

"No," Naruto said stubbornly. "I'm not going to change my mind on this, so give up. If you want to help, tell me how I can get rid of the guy on my tail! I can't shake him."

"By returning to base," Shikamaru said. "This isn't a joke. You will retreat."

"You most certainly will not," said a new, stern voice. The voice of Fugaku Shimura, their commanding officer.

"Yes sir," said both Shikamaru and Naruto.

"If you run like a coward I will personally strap you down on the electric chair," said Fugaku. "For dereliction of duty. Just try it. See if I'm bluffing."

Naruto said nothing.

Shikamaru started, "He wasn't-"

"Silence," Fugaku ordered. "I know your type Naruto. You think you're a hero. Other people think you're a hero. Maybe it's true, but ultimately you lack substance. You're easily replaceable. Shikamaru is not. He matters to our war effort. Sacrifice yourself to save him if you must."

"Yes sir," Naruto said.

"Self destruct if it looks like you're going to run out of power. We cannot let a Gundam fall into enemy hands. And on that note, I cannot allow you to put Gundam 05 in danger either, you are to disconnect with Shadow Gundam immediately." Fugaku sighed. "It will be a shame to lose Gundam 04 but I suppose it was inevitable. You are its pilot afterall."

"...Yes sir," Naruto said dully.

"I hope to see you soon Shikamaru," said Fugaku, voice softening. "You're a valuable asset. Good luck soldier!" Fugaku cut his line.

"Thank you sir," Shikamaru whispered, ashamed of the smile that touched his lips. Why did he still care about the opinion of that man? The answer was obvious. No matter how much of an ass Fugaku was, Shikamaru would always regard him as a father.

"Don't worry about Fugaku," Shikamaru said. "He's a douche."

"...No." Said Naruto. "Fathe- Fugaku's right. He's always fuckin' right. I just wish… It's not important. All I have to do it win. Shikamaru, how do we get out of this?"

XOXOXOXOXOX

Naruto just wished the old man had waited a little longer before reprimanding him. Was that so much to ask? Wait until he wasn't in mortal peril before delivering that emotional gut punch? Meh… Maybe it was better this way. Naruto slammed the boosters, jerked Kurama sideways, and watched three Zakus trailing him go right into his sights. He fired his gun bits and watched their lasers rip the Zakus to shreds. He felt the savage pleasure of a pure endorphin rush. Nothing felt better than destroying the enemy.

"Great job Naruto," said Shikamaru. "Only twenty-two left. Now, see that building to your right? It's a shelter. Use it as a shield. The Zakus won't want to fire on you there."

Naruto huddled behind the shelter. It was no skyscraper, but was the size of headquarters. Maybe a few square city blocks wide, and about twenty stories tall. The windows were heavy, thick, and opaque, made to be resistant to ballistics. He felt exposed, the building seemed too small to properly hide Kurama. He hesitated, and switched on the outside microphones. The sound of women screaming, children crying, and men dying filled his cockpit, but so did something else.

He hadn't noticed, but there was a long line of civilians waiting for entrance into the shelter. A group of them had swarmed his Gundam and were pelting it with rocks. He normally hated being surrounded by civilians, one false move and he'd squash them like bugs, but he supposed that they'd at least slow enemy fire. It'd be beneficial to the mission to leave them exposed to the battlefield.

Naruto sighed, and shot a bolt of energy into the ground, kicking up a ton of dirt and dust. Once it cleared, he'd found that most of the civilians had run away, except for a beautiful pink haired girl with a large forehead. She was flipping him the bird. He took a step towards her, but she just glared. Then she shook her head, sneered, mouthed the words, "Terrorist coward," and swaggered back to the shelter line.

For some reason that insult hurt. More than the old man calling him useless, a strange girl named Ino calling him a scrub, Shikamaru deeming him unreliable, or losing to Sasuke. Why? He wasn't a coward, he knew that, and he couldn't be a terrorist. He was attacking a military base… That just happened to look like a college… To destroy the work of Tsunade Senju a well known… Well she was most well known for her philanthropy to Naturals and Coordinators alike, but Fugaku had explained that she was a fraud. She, along with Orochimaru and Jiraiya had created the PLANTS. She was the terrorist! Naruto was the hero! He wasn't a terrorist dammit! He wasn't!

"Heads up Naruto," said Shikamaru. "Five bogeys are coming right at you. You'd better retreat."

Naruto scowled. He was no snivelling terrorist, running from a fight. He launched from the ground, prepared to meet the Zakus head on. He still had five gun bits along with Kurama, so the odds weren't so bad.

The Zakus were arranged in v-formation, like a migrating flock of geese. Naruto extended out his gun bits. It was hard to explain how he controlled them, like explaining to someone how you controlled your arm or your leg. He just kind of willed them to move, and had gotten used to maneuvering them as a group in 3D space. The Zakus focused their attention on him, trying to bring down Kurama once and for all. Naruto split his attention, half on maneuvering around enemy fire with Kurama, and half on whittling down the enemy rank with his gun bits. Left-up-shoot-dodge-back-left-switch-shoot-right-all up- down-shoot-shoot-dodge-fuck! Another of his bits had been destroyed. He only had four left and all his shield bits were long gone. He forced his remaining guns to focus on a damaged Zaku whose shields were down. They scooted around a beam from behind, and fired at the Zaku. Three missed, but one got a glancing blow on the Zaku's foot. It spun wildly, spun faster and faster, and began to fall from the sky. It wouldn't kill the pilot, but the Zaku would be out of order until the end of the battle. Shit! The fallen zaku had managed one last shot at him, spinning faster than a top, and by some miracle it had been a bullseye. It had flown straight at the cockpit, straight at Naruto, he'd been dead to rights, but Kurama had moved almost on its own, and Naruto had been saved. Must've been his Coordinator reflexes, he'd simply moved faster than he could process, at least that's how Sasuke always explained it. But Naruto always felt it was different. "Thanks Kurama," Naruto patted his monitor. "You really saved my ass there."

"Are you... Are you talking to your ship again?" Shikamaru asked. "You really are a weird kid, you know that?"

"One of a kind," Naruto said with a smile. "Me and Kurama are gonna protect you Shikamaru. I promise on my-"

"Just focus on finishing up the battle."

Right. He forced his guns to fire on a slow moving Zaku, and eventually they overwhelmed it. He dodged and weaved and blew another Zaku out of the sky. Only two left. He was gonna win this thing!

Shit! One of the Zakus had fired an errant shot, right at the line of civilians. Naruto reacted on instinct, and sacrificed a gun bit to stop the blast. He exhaled, it was well worth a gun bit to prevent casualties. Even Fugaku wouldn't be to broken up about it, so long as he didn't damage the Gundam 04 itself he wouldn't be in any serious troub-

What the fuck were the Zakus doing? They'd started firing their cannons at the Heliopolis students. Naruto swerved the rest of his gun bits in front of the fire, and stopped the volley. Shit, now he was out of weaponry as well. What the fuck was happening, why were the Zakus trying to massacre their own citizens?

One of the Zakus pointed his rifle down at the civilian shelter, and cocked his head at Naruto. Of course. They were using the civilians as hostages. Naruto growled. He should've known better. He was an experienced soldier dammit! This was why the old man always reprimanded him, pretending to be a hero got you killed on the battlefield. Naruto needed to get out of this damn habit. For himself, his squad, and all the people he was protecting! He would not move. He was earth military, he owed nothing to these space colony students.

So when the Zaku's rifle started to glow Naruto kept his hands from Kurama's boosters, and when a glowing ball of energy formed at the barrel of the rifle Naruto simply steeled himself. And of course when the ball became a beam, racing towards the innocent, helpless students Naruto simply… Simply dashed in front of it and took the hit for them.

Smoke filled the cockpit, and gravity left it. Red alarm sirens roared from every direction, and half the cameras only showed static. His propulsion system had failed and Kurama was in free fall. The old man would be furious, Sasuke would call him a fool, Shikamaru and Shino would be devastated, and the rest of the world... Well apart from those four Naruto was all alone, the rest of the world wouldn't care. He'd let his family down. And yet Naruto couldn't muster any of the self disgust he knew his actions warranted.

Naruto swam to the dashboard, punched through a glass cover, and stared at the self destruct button. "This is it Kurama. It's been…" He smiled. He was ready.

Gravity returned in a crunch, and Naruto slammed against the floor. Shino laid him on the ground, and regarded the lone Zaku in the sky. What had happened to the other one? It was falling liking a comet, a burning pile of rubble. Shino had gotten the bastard.

"Guys," said Shikamaru.

"I didn't need your help Shino," Naruto boasted. "I had everything under control. But thanks anyway."

Shino's camouflaged Gundam regarded him for a moment. "...I should not have abandoned the plan. I failed the squad. I am sorry Naruto, Shikamaru."

"Guys," said Shikamaru.

"Think you can take on that Zaku all by yourself?" Naruto asked.

"Guys," said Shikamaru.

Bug Gundam nodded. "...It will not be a problem."

"Yeah it will," Shikamaru said. "You need to get out of here. There are twenty more Zakus on their way- Shit!"

A swarm of Zakus filled the sky. Shino cursed, grabbed Naruto, and flew away. The Zakus followed, and filled the air with lasers. Shino dodged and weaved, but was slowed from the weight of towing Kurama. It was only a matter of time until… They started to descend.

"Out of fuel," said Shino, and they landed gently on the ground. Shino drew a blaster pistol, and returned fire on the Zakus. But there were too many of them. They rained beams down on the two vulnerables Gundams below, kicking up hundreds of tons of half molten dirt and dust. The cockpit began to swelter, and Naruto lost all view on the battlefield.

"This is your last chance guys," Shikamaru said. "They can't see you through the dirt and the dust. Abandon ship."

"...No," said Shino.

"Hell no!" said Naruto.

"Don't be stupid!" Shikamaru yelled. "We can start a new life here. Maybe strike a deal with the Forest Colony's government."

"...I will not betray my home," said Shino.

Naruto could hear Shikamaru's scowl over the line. "You realize we're not the good guys in this war? You know what Tsunade's terrible weapon is, the one we're trying to destroy? An invention that'll feed hundreds of thousands of starving children! This is our chance at a peaceful life!"

"As if I'd ever abandon the old man like that!" Naruto roared.

Naruto turned off the communication line. He'd heard it all before: they'd been kidnapped from their real parents, they were being used by power hungry psychopaths, and their missions were pure evil. Shikamaru was always the first to panic, and when he did he got delusional. Their cause was just, Fugaku was a good man, and they had no parents. They had all been genetically designed to be perfect soldiers from an amalgamation of the genetic code of the best pilots of all time.

The wind howled. The smoke cleared. And the sky was clear. The Zakus had disappeared.


	3. Pilot Part 3

**Part 3**

"We need you to be like your older brother," Shikamaru said.

Sasuke scowled and turned off the line. He knew what that meant. Naruto had failed to defeat the enemy horde, and now the rest of the team needed saving.

Sasuke had long since destroyed Tsunade's laboratory and lost the ace tailing him. He searched for the nearest city, and found one ten miles to his North. He flew to it, noticed a large suspension bridge, and sawed it in half with his lightsaber. Next he took off the top thirty stories of a skyscraper, and crushed a statue of some old guy. He peeled off the top layer of a shelter, and inspected the little Coordinators inside. College students, so spoiled, so protected, they probably thought that the war they were funding would never come to effect them, but here he was: an avenger, straight from their nightmares.

A beam missed him by a hair. Sasuke smirked. It was a testament to his acting ability that he'd let the Green Zaku come so close to hitting him. Pretending to be an oblivious fool, perhaps the enemy- Sasuke chuckled- _ace_ thought he was as weak as Naruto. He flipped on his outside microphone, so he could hear the screams of the enemy. He'd need to be in a certain mood to properly emulate his dearest departed older brother.

He flew up towards the Zaku and- my god was that knife thrust telegraphed- casually lopped off his opponent's arm with a slash of his saber. The Zaku panicked, and tried to flee, but Sasuke caught its foot. He unholstered a schneider knife, and stuck it in the Zaku's hip. Then he released the Zaku, and watched its boosters propel it into an uncontrollable rotation. He switched off his lightsaber, and equipped his rifle. He lined up his sights, and blew off the enemy's other leg. The Zaku plummeted then, still spinning madly. Sasuke held out a hand, caught the Zaku in a tractor beam, and escorted it gently to the ground. Sasuke touched down himself, and the Zaku threw a knife at him. He dodged it with a sway of his back and slowly walked toward the Zaku. It tried to crawl away so Sasuke stomped off its last remaining arm, feeling it flatten beneath his feet like a soda can. He reached out, grabbed the enemy's cockpit, and squeezed. Slowly it started to warp and crumple, but Sasuke released it far before any danger could come to the pilot. He'd just wanted to trap the man inside. He held the Zaku's head in the air and turned on his lightsaber. Slowly, very slowly, he raised the beam sword, bringing it closer and closer to the enemy's cockpit. Just before it sliced through he stopped, and held the beam in place. The metal just above the enemy grew red hot. The thought of the enemy slowly burning to death brought a smile to Sasuke's lips. The question was, how long would the enemy survive. A Natural would die in less than thirty seconds, but this pilot was a Coordinator. He could probably survive two or three minutes. So after ninety seconds Sasuke turned off the beam sword and let the cockpit cool, giving the pilot some time to recover. Then he repeated the process three times and turned on his communication line.

"How are things going?" Sasuke asked.

"Good, the enemy is in full retreat," Shikamaru said.

Sasuke hesitated a moment. There was no need to continue this torture. When Sasuke was a greenhorn, Itachi had explained that if you tortured an enemy ace his wingmen would hear it over their communication lines. It spread terror through enemy lines, and often caused them to flee, therefore it was ethical. Better to win a battle with one gruesome death than several cleaner ones.

But then again this bastard had thought he could just stroll in and kill a member of Sasuke's team. He switched on his saber and sliced the cockpit in half. Good riddance. Sasuke flew off to join the rest of his team and return to White Base.

Shino was in bad shape, his Gundam marred with scratches and burns, but Naruto's mobile suit certainly took the cake. Sasuke should have grown used to the Idiot's incompetence during their many years flying together but even now it astounded him. The dumbass had let a bunch of mooks completely destroy the right side of his Gundam. Kurama was missing an entire arm, a good chunk of its torso, and half of a leg. Shikamaru's Shadow Gundam, curiously looked pristine, as if it hadn't even been flown. But hadn't Shikamaru gifted it to Naruto for this mission? Whatever, it didn't matter, they'd accomplished their mission and stopped the space colony scum from building their stupid super weapon. Father would surely be pleased. Sasuke had after all completed the mission objective alone, and single-handedly saved the rest of his squad. Not even Itachi could have done better.

"Everyone ready?" Sasuke asked. "Naruto, is your suit still capable of space travel?"

"Of course it is," Naruto chirped, in that irritating voice of his. "Kurama's a tough guy!"

Sasuke grunted and unholstered his beam cannon. He turned the power all the way up to eleven, and charged his shot, aiming at the colony's false blue sky. The laser exploded, and tore a hole in the clouds, exposing Heliopolis to the empty black void of space. Slowly the squadron of four Gundams rose, and flew out of the battleground with their mission accomplished.

When they were halfway to White Base, a light flashed, indicating a caller. Suddenly, for some reason, Sasuke was filled with dread. For the first time all day he was scared. Petrified. But why should he be? They'd done an excellent job. There was nothing to worry about.

"We did it sir," Naruto said, the only pilot willing to answer. "We destroyed the lab without losing a single Gundam!"

"You should all be ashamed of yourselves," Father said. It was strange how, even though Father's voice was barely audible, it seemed so loud, heavy, and overwhelming. Sasuke couldn't help but shake.

"Shino, you broke formation," Father said. "Your lack of discipline put the entire mission in jeopardy. You'll be in solitary for a month."

"...Yes sir. I'm sorry sir," said Shino with a slight quiver.

"Shikamaru, you failed to keep your subordinate under control. Your weakness as a leader is unacceptable. I'm dropping you a rank."

"Yes sir," said Shikamaru, unable to keep the hurt from his voice. "I'm sorry sir."

"And Sasuke," Fugaku said. "Your work was adequate."

Slowly a warm feeling engulfed his stomach. A faint smile touched his lips.

"Keep working hard to be a great pilot like your brother."

And just like that the feeling was gone, replaced by a cold nothingness. Sasuke felt like… He'd completed thirty-seven more missions than Itachi, he'd taken down twenty-eight more aces, and he'd attained a higher enemy reward than his brother ever had. But he could never replace- no replace wasn't the right word, he'd never wanted to replace Itachi- but he could never even register in father's eyes as anything more than a lesser version of his brother. He hated it.

The four pilots flew in sullen silence.

"Hey cheer up guys," Naruto said. "The mission wasn't all bad. Me and Sasuke met a total dime- remember that pink-haired babe?"

"No," Sasuke grunted.

"Oh this girl was a complete smokeshow," Naruto blathered, to nobody in particular. "Complete package. Great body. Great figure. And a super sexy attitude if you know what I mean."

"I'm done listening to you squeal like a pubescent school girl," Sasuke said, cutting the line. It was obvious that Naruto was blind, as the sakura-haired woman had been much more than a _dime_. She was the light in the darkness, a true paragon of beauty, her lips like cherry blossoms, her forehead as big and bountiful as the ocean! And that attitude! Such fierceness, like a lioness defending her pride, such...

XOXOXOXOX

"Out, all of you," Neji ordered to the crowd of peasants, huddled around the only television in the orphanage. "Princess Hinata wants to watch highlights from the war!"

"It's okay, it's okay," said precious Hinata. "I like boxing!"

The dirty lowborns regarded Hinata for a moment. "Who cares about boxing? I wanna see The Strike!" Said a particularly despicable eight year old. The highlights were fairly standard. The Strike fought a Green Zaku and dispatched it with cruel precision. The Bug Gundam sniped down a rank and file Zaku. And then… Yes, always the star of the show, the flashy Gundam known as Kurama took an energy blast for what appeared to be a crowd of college students. Typical of that stupid pilot, to risk a mobile suit with an estimated worth in the hundreds of billions for a few worthless lives.

The children all cheered, and Hinata lit up like a lightbulb. Such a childish crush. She didn't even know what the pilot looked like, much less anything about him. The earth government propped up Kurama as everything a Natural should be. Not as talented as a Coordinator but more valiant, not always capable of succeeding but always willing to try, not always making the correct decision but always making the right one. Naturals knew that they could not compete with the Coordinators but argued that they could be superior in their own way: More moral, more heroic, more _holy_. The Gundam pilots were marketed as symbols of humanity and as such could not have their identities revealed. Kurama's pilot especially, was propped up as a paragon of Natural virtue.

It all stank. For a long time Neji had thought that it was the beliefs themselves that were hollow. Only a NewType like him could compete with a Coordinator. The vast majority of Naturals were simply inferior, and would do well to accept that fact. But as he studied the radiant glow from his sweet cousin, he grew more and more certain that the pilot of Kurama was a fraud. And the sooner he was exposed, the sooner his Hinata would move on from her naive infatuation.

XOXOXOXOXOX

"See Forehead, like I told you, those huge mobile suits were terrorists," Ino lectured, in that annoying mixture of bossiness and smugness that only she was capable of.

Sakura tried another internet search. _Giant Orange Zaku Heliopolis_. Again she found loads of articles on an earthling terrorist attack, and the fifteen dead ROTC students who had lost their lives in a desperate attempt to protect the campus. She was able to find a clip of a Green Zaku in combat with the Orange Zaku, but there was only information on the Green Zaku's pilot: A man named Mizuki Umino who had been in charge of training the students. The internet said that the terrorists had destroyed the work of Tsunade Senju, Sakura's favorite professor, which would have helped feed hundred of thousands of starving settlers in The Rain Colony. "Shut up Ino-pig! I know what I'm talking about," Sakura said. "That Orange Zaku was protecting us."

"You really should stop calling me a pig, Forehead," said Ino, rolling her eyes. "I was voted Miss Heliopolis you know? If I'm a pig that must make you a ram, with that crazy forehead of yours."

And next Ino would be talking about how she was the daughter of _The_ _Inochi Yamanaka_. Ino had the personality of a pig, and hence the nickname. It was crazy that Ino, the second-best student of her class, had never been able to figure that out. "Those gray Zakus were shooting at us," said Sakura. "The Orange Zaku sacrificed himself to save us. I can't find any clips of that though. The government's trying to hide something."

"Obviously," Ino bit her lip. "Those terrorists were Coordinators. They moved too well to be Naturals. They couldn't be from earth. Must've been Sand."

"You're such an idiot Ino," Sakura chuckled. "We're already at war with Sand. Why wouldn't they just blame the attack on them?"

"So what are you saying?" Asked Ino.

"I don't know," said Sakura. "You're right that the attack couldn't have been from earth. They like us now, even if they are a bit jealous of well… This," Sakura indicated to herself and Ino. Not only were they more beautiful and intelligent than any Natural could possibly be, they, like all other Coordinators, were not afflicted with the curse of aging. They would live forever. Sakura felt tremendous sympathy for Naturals, who were unfairly forced to live hideously short lives as ugly idiots. "We've spent so much money trying to help them become Coordinators like us that they really have no motive to do something like this. We're their only hope for eternal life."

"Wait," Ino bullied Sakura off the keyboard, and surfed to the student directory. "During the attack I met a pilot named Naruto Shimura. Maybe he knows something."

"I think you're onto something," said Sakura, putting her hand on Ino's shoulder. If the bitchy blondie helped her find the future Mister Haruno, then she'd be more than willing to set aside their little rivalry. Hell, she'd let Ino take back the number one student ranking. Right now, all that mattered to Sakura was finding her prince, her Romeo, her savior, the heroic pilot of the Orange Zaku.

XOXOXOXOXOX

The phone buzzed and rang. Naruto groaned and rolled over in bed. With great reluctance he picked up his cell, and glanced at the number. Caller unknown. Great. "Hello?" Naruto answered grumpily. "Whoever you are this had better be good."

"Naruto," said a calm smooth voice. "It's been a long time."

Naruto bolted out of bed, suddenly wide awake. "You're alive?"

"Hnn," said Itachi. "We have much to discuss."

**Author's Note: **Thanks for finishing! Leave a review on whether the story should rewind to give better context to the characters, or after a quick rewrite of some of the events of the pilot move onto Naruto's conversation with Itachi.


	4. Flashback

"You are in grave danger," Itachi murmured melodiously. "An association of terrifyingly skilled pilots is after-"

"Are you okay?" Naruto asked. He was out of bed now, pacing his dimly lit sleeping quarters restlessly. After two steps he hit a wall, had to turn around, and could take two more before hitting the opposite wall. There was enough space for a small desk and a water heater for instant ramen. "You're under orders right? Undercover. That's why the Old Man said you were dead. It's obvious!" Naruto put a hand over his mouth. He'd said that a bit too loud. Since Itachi was undercover, it was probably important to be covert and quiet. "But you can do it Itachi! Believe it!"

"..." Said Itachi. Naruto heard him breathing on the line. Wheezing. "The line is bugged, but…" His breath whistled as he exhaled. "If you look at…"

"You're sick," Naruto said. "But Coordinators don't-"

Itachi chuckled. "Everyone dies Naruto. Do not waste time. Ask-"

"When are you coming back?" Naruto demanded.

"If I do my job correctly, we will never see each other again," Itachi said smoothly.

"No! You're coming back!" Naruto said, hammering a fist down on his desk. He softened. "Sasuke needs you."

"..." Each of Itachi's breaths was labored. "..."

"You should be with us Itachi," Naruto said. "You're family. You're on an important mission, I get that, but family sticks together. Come back! Come back or I'll find you, and beat some sense into you."

"..." Itachi said. "... You do not understand."

"You're the one who doesn't understand!" Naruto roared into his phone. "You don't see what Sasuke is like! He doesn't talk anymore! He no longer writes his beautiful poetry! No laughs, no smiles, everything has to be about the mission, and every mission he acts like an emo butthole with a stick up his butt!"

"..." Itachi said. "I see we will not get anywhere unless I explain myself. A long time ago, in a land far, far away..."

XOXOXOXOX

Maybe this one would be different. The orphanage was beaten up, worn down, even compared to other orphanages in this accursed land called Japan. It was an old buddhist temple, shingles on the mildewy roof long broken, weeds growing in the cracks between bricks, vines choking the life out of what would have been beautiful sakura trees. This was one of the many countries in the powerful Trade Federation, and like many other countries on the coast of the Eurasian continent it had been reliant on nuclear energy. The PLANTS sent by the space colonies had made nuclear fission and fusion impossible. It had been to stop another Bloody Sunday, the name for the nuclear assault the earth had launched on The Forest Colony, from occurring. It had been necessary of course, Bloody Sunday had taken mother from them, but the price of the PLANTS was steep. The cost was, the cost was…

Father opened the door. Not locked then. Itachi didn't know what to make of it. Thievery was common in this part of Tokyo. Perhaps this orphanage had nothing worth stealing.

That hypothesis was confirmed by the interior of the temple. Empty. A tired, skeletal, middle-aged woman stared at them with gaunt brown eyes. She was surrounded by children, arms so skinny Itachi could see the separation of the radius and ulna bones in their forearms.

"Sir," rasped the woman. She shook off the children clutching her, and crawled to Father. "Sir, do you see anything you like? Would you like to buy any of the children? My scarf? It's good quality? Sex? You can have your way with me for a thousand yen… A hundred? Or perhaps you prefer children? They would be honored..."

Fugaku pinched his nose with a pair of fingers. "The children. May I inspect them?"

"Of course sir," the woman said. Even her words sounded hungry. Desperate. The children lined up, one by one, but Itachi already knew that none of them were what they were looking for.

"If I have five yen, and I add three, then multiply by five, then divide them into piles of seven, how many yen would be left over?" Father asked. It was a question any Coordinator past the age of two could do without training.

"What does add mean?" A child asked. Father answered, and further explained what numbers were. He allowed the children to indicate their answers with fingers. A few children held up five fingers, so Father supplied another question. This time it was about analyzing a story, and none of the Natural children were able to supply him a satisfactory answer.

"You," Father said, pointing at the smallest of the children. "Your name?"

"Ritsuke," the boy said eagerly.

"You held up two fingers for my first question. That was incorrect. I cannot save every child, so I must prioritize the survival of the strong and intelligent," Father said coldly. "You are neither. It is for this reason, Ritsuke, that I will leave you here, where you are destined to perish."

Ritsu-, the boy, Itachi could not bear to attribute him with a name, started to cry. He was not consoled by the other children in the orphanage. They hadn't been judged by Father yet, they still had hope, and they wouldn't risk Father's wrath for a doomed child's feelings. But Father, one-by-one, eliminated their hope for salvation. He was specific about why for each child, stating their name and their mistake, and telling each and every one of them that they weren't worth saving.

It would have bothered Itachi a few months ago. Now it was simply routine. Itachi wandered off, as Father gave some advice to the head of the orphanage. It was his chance to explore, to grow acquainted with the homeland. Indeed, the temple was beautiful, in a broken unkempt way. Vines, blackberries, ivy, and nettles had halfway taken over the grounds, creating a mat of green over old cement walkways. All the blackberries had been eaten of course. A good few of the black orb-shaped berries sprouting from the ivy by Itachi's feet had been eaten as well. Of course those were poisonous.

No, they hadn't been eaten. A pile of the poisonous berries had been ground up into a pulp and placed on the foot of a nearby statue. It had been easy to miss, as a swarm of ants had surrounded it, making it look like a black spot from a distance. Itachi inspected one of the ants.

It was large and red, with giant mandibles trying to bite his fingers. Its thorax swung in his grip, a needle like stinger stabbing at his hand. Ants had evolved from wasps about a hundred million years ago, and Itachi could see their close resemblance. Quite fascinating.

"Don't hurt it," a voice called, its speaker hidden by the tall grass.

Itachi put the ant down gently, and investigated the child. As thin and spindly as the others in the orphanage, there was something off about this one. Perhaps the clarity of his voice? He spoke like an adult, but he couldn't have been older than three.

What happened next was astonishing. A small bird flew down, pecking at the line of ants, and the boy became a flurry of efficient motion. Most three-year-olds toddled, but this three-year-old sprinted at the tiny canary, caught it as it attempted to fly away, and swiftly broke its neck.

It was clear now. This child was strong. This child was what they were looking for. This child was a Coordinator. This child was worth saving.

A tiny part of Itachi's mind protested. Yes this child was strong, yes this child was intelligent, and thus he needed their help least of all. He, unlike the others, could find a way to survive without them. This child was not who they should be saving. Itachi ruthlessly squashed that aspect of his mind. Stifled his protests. The strong and the lucky survived while the weak and the unlucky perished. That was simply the logic of war. To defy it was to defy Father. Foolishness.

"Come with me," Itachi said.

The urchin followed him, clutching his tiny bird tightly, as if it was his most prized possession in the entire world. Because of course, as a small source of calories in this famine infested land, it was.

"What's this you've found?" Father took one look at the child, and ruffled Itachi's hair. "That's my boy."

That was not the last orphanage he and Father visited. Most visits were uneventful. They came. They saw. They left. Never did they find another child like Shino. The only other time they encountered a Coordinator was when they were confronted by a gang of children shortly after leaving an orphanage deep in the country.

The tactics themselves were unimpressive, fairly standard to be sure, but the division of labor among the children was nothing short of astonishing. A few children kept watch over the roads into town, and alerted the leader, who put together a force of larger more nourished children to execute the mugging. In moments Itachi and his Father had their would be assailants pinned and incapacitated, but Father's curiosity had been sparked. The leader, another three-year-old, had pushed himself to the limit. Half delirious on adderall, the wispy black-haired boy hadn't slept in eight days. Always alert, always prepared for an opportunity.

Itachi had been sure that after capturing Shikamaru, he and Father would return home. The novelty of this excursion was long gone, he missed Sasuke, and even more pressing, he was starting to worry about Father. Father's lips had begun to crack, his eyes had sunken into his skull, his skin had taken on an unhealthy gray sheen, his strong muscular body had withered away, until his frame was sickeningly skeletal, matching that of the pathetic Naturals they were forced to visit.

"Father, we should just go home. Return to Sasuke. This isn't good for you," Itachi said one night.

Father snarled, and while in the past Itachi would have cowered, the once fearsome man more closely resembled a mangy dog than a mighty wolf. "You think I care about the Naturals? You think their squalor bothers me? This war means nothing. They would have been unnecessary, war or no. It is their place, Itachi, to starve and struggle, to live without purpose, and to die forgotten. To try and change that is futile nonsense. Dreams of utopia end in dystopia. The blame for all this famine, for all this pain, for all this suffering, it is all because of a man who wished to change our cruel reality into a dream of peace. So I will not leave, I will not abandon my search, not until I have found him, and made things right."

So the search continued. Itachi no longer knew what they were looking for. A child? A man? A Coordinator? Minato Namikaze himself? Itachi did not know. But he did grow to hate them. These sickly, stupid, Naturals with their accursed weakness.

It would have been better if Father's search grew frenzied. If any hint of madness, guilt, or fatigue had shown in Father. But they kept searching orphanages, one or two every single day. Father was so methodical, machine like in his unwavering determination.

"That's odd," Father said, as the two stepped into an old two bedroom apartment. It had been unlocked of course, but Itachi had grown used to that. "I told the director that we would be visiting."

Itachi, however, wasn't surprised. This was the orphanage equivalent of a mom-and-pop shop. Just two or three children, being raised by a nineteen-year-old. He raised an eyebrow. Cartons of instant ramen overflowed from a garbage can, a few fruit flies buzzing about them. Wealthier than the typical orphanage then, so the children wouldn't be emaciated and starving. Not that it bothered Itachi anymore.

A wail pierced its way down the hall, emanating from behind a wooden door. Itachi ran towards the howling, and kicked the door from its hinges. A man held down a struggling boy, a surgical knife pressed against his face. It was the last of several incisions, three on each cheek, that pierced all the way through the flesh. The betrayal cut through all, a caretaker harming his own ward, for no reason other than malice.

This was a level of cruelty that Itachi had not yet encountered, even with all his wanderings through the depths of starvation and misery, and yet he understood the man's motive in an instant. The boy, even with tears obscuring blue eyes, was the spitting image of Minato Namikaze. The man responsible for the Second Solar War, the genocide of millions of Naturals, and the death of Itachi's mother, that man had clearly had a son, or perhaps a clone. A spark of rage filled Itachi's belly.

But Father moved first. A strike to the teenager's wrist and he'd dropped the knife, a flowing sweep of the legs to get the teen on the ground. Father clambered on top of the man, a knee on the small of his back, bending the man's arm to a painful angle.

"Why?" Father asked calmly, quietly, almost in a sleepy murmur. It was the voice he used when he sang melodies to Itachi's baby brother.

"Can't you tell just by looking at him?" The man spat, his chin smearing against the semi-congealed blood on the bathroom's laminate tiles. "He has evil in him. He looks just like Minato Namikaze, a man worse than Adolf Hitler or Ghengis Kahn. I'm doing the world a favor, eliminating that monster's genes from-"

The explosion of a gun shot rang through Itachi's ears. Father let the man's head fall from his grip, and put his handgun back into his coat. "Itachi, help me move the body." Itachi's brilliant mind could decipher the movement of Father's lips so easily it barely even registered that he could not hear him.

"Mister, mister," the boy was shaking the man, crying even harder than before. "Wake up. Wake up mister."

It was funny. The blood on the floor had formed a growing puddle. But most of it was coming from the hysterically sobbing boy, with a few measly cuts on his cheeks, and not the dead man with half his brain splattered on the shower curtains. Itachi knew why of course.

Corpses didn't bleed.

Father- Fugaku- had killed a man. Murdered him. He'd dragged the carcass across the bathroom, and left its head in the toilet. "It's bad form for a visitor to leave a mess," Fugaku explained.

Itachi observed from the corner.

"Does this bother you Itachi?" Fugaku asked.

Itachi tried to shake his head, but found that he couldn't.

Fugaku raised an eyebrow. He turned to the sink, washed his blood encrusted hands, scrubbing lightly with soap until they were as clean as before he'd become a murderer. Steam tinted the bathroom mirror. He shut off the water, and dried his hands on a towel.

"Do you think this is the first time I've killed a man?"

Of course it wasn't. Itachi shook his head.

"This is peace," Fugaku said. "These are the good times. Cherish them." He ruffled Itachi's hair and turned. He rummaged through the apartment, coming back with a needle and thread, and stitched the boy's cheeks closed. Itachi waited in the corner, as still as the corpse leaking blood in the toilet. Finally, Fugaku was finished. He cleaned his hands in the sink, and slapped them together.

"Let's go. The mission is over. It was a waste of time. I had hoped that… Well, it was a foolish wish. The boy is a Natural. He is not to be blamed, but he is useless to us."

Good. Itachi wanted to leave, get out of this horrible apartment, run from this land of famine, and return to the prosperity of the Forest Colony.

"Wait," the boy tugged on Fugaku's collar.

"Father," Itachi said carefully. "This boy does resemble the late president. Perhaps we should-"

Fugaku held up a hand, silencing Itachi. "Tell me boy, if I have five yen, and I add three, then multiply by five, then divide them into equal piles of seven, how many yen would be left over?"

The boy stared up at Fugaku. No longer crying, no longer hysterical. His features did not have the perfection of a Coordinator's, his movements were clumsy like a Natural's, but perhaps that was because of the pain of having his cheeks carved like a jack-o-lantern. Perhaps his looks were marred by his injury. Perhaps that was why Fugaku had given him this one, last chance.

Itachi knew that this boy would not survive unless they saved him. Not with his wounds. He'd be eating through a straw for months, and even if by some miracle he survived, he'd still share a striking resemblance to Minato Namikaze. That was the true death penalty.

The boy must have known somehow, that Fugaku was his only opportunity for survival. He was staring up at him, with those sparkling blue eyes, with a level of clarity that gave Itachi hope.

Answer the question correctly, Itachi silently pleaded, and prove yourself worthy of salvation.

"Th-thanks fer-fer-fer saving me Old Man," his voice stuttered, his words were rounded like a toddler's, this boy was a Natural through and through.

Fugaku stared down at the boy, his eyes black and opaque, his face stern and wooden. "Do you want to come with us?"

The boy nodded.

"Answer my questions as a soldier, for that is what you will be. Say 'yes sir', or 'no sir'."

"Yes sir."

"Will you do as I demand?"

"Yes sir."

"Will you live as I demand?"

"Yes sir."

"Will you die as I demand?"

"Yes sir."

"Then come with us Naruto, and become a Coordinator who would make your Father proud."

"Who is Naruto?"

Fugaku slapped the boy, and his stitches broke. Blood seeped from his whiskers- the wounds on his cheeks- but they did look a lot like whiskers.

"Naruto is a Coordinator," Fugaku said. "Naruto is a soldier. You are Naruto, boy, and you will answer as befitting your station."

"Yes sir!" the boy, Naruto, said, giving a sloppy salute. Then he grinned so hard the rest of his stitches broke, and hopped into Fugaku's arms and hugged him deeply. Itachi braced for another slap, but instead saw an expression he hadn't seen on Father's face since Bloody Sunday.

A gentle smile.


	5. New Moon Rising - Part 1

**Author's Note: **Sasuke's Gundam is now Susanoo. It's so obvious I can't not do it, before I called it The Strike. Susanno is a vantablack gundam. Look up some pictures of things painted with vantablack, it's trippy.

In this version of the story a gouf is a smaller mass produced mobile suit. Zakus are specialized mobile suits for the best pilots. Gundams are above zakus in a number of ways, but are not known by the public, which mistakenly calls them zakus.

In the Pilot Chapter all soldiers used zakus, because in the original Gundam zakus and goufs were equal. For story purposes though, in this universe goufs are below zakus and denote a lower status.

XOXOXOX

"Hey Shino, hey Shino, would you rather make out with a guy that looked like a chick, or a chick that looked like a guy?" Naruto asked, enjoying the melody of insightful, thoughtful conversation. That was what was nice about space, about these long journeys with no wifi or other outside forms of entertainment. It was just him and his squad, without all the distractions of modern life. It was during these long boring missions where he really got to know everyone.

Shino hummed thoughtfully. "Very interesting... I suppose I would rather-"

"I would rather go over mission details," Sasuke interrupted. "Naruto what is the first stage of this-"

"Hey Bastard, hey Bastard, would you rather-"

"Answer in three, two, one... Of course you didn't pay attention to the briefing Deadlast. When will you grow up? I don't always have time to babysit you." Sasuke's gundam, Susanoo, tilted forward, boosters on his feet blasting him ahead of the group with a surge of energetic protons. "Shikamaru, make sure Deadlast understands what we're doing."

"Hey!" Naruto protested. "I thought my name was Idiot?"

"My mistake Idiot," Sasuke said cooly, all self-serious, and self-important, and self-had-a-stick-up-his-butt.

"Yes sir," Shikamaru said dryly, then whispered. "Troublesome." A private green comm light flashed on Naruto's display. He swiped the touch screen to open the line. "Was that really necessary?"

"What?" Naruto asked innocently. "Did I do something?"

Shikamaru sighed loudly. "I know you only did it to rile up Sasuke, but it really is critical to mission success that you understand what we're doing. Tell me what you know."

"Are you serious?"

"You don't have the best history Naruto." Shikamaru sighed again. "Can you just humor me?"

"So this guy Tazuna right, he calls himself a Super Engineer but he seemed like a bit of a degenerate to me. Anyways, he and the Old Man, they struck up a deal. But that Tazuna was totally disrespectful, he called us a bunch of kids and asked the Old Man if he had any other pilots!" Naruto paused. Tazuna had also called him specifically a Natural, the drunk old fool. But then, Itachi had kind of implied the same thing. That had stuck with him. He'd always sympathized with the Naturals, but he didn't like the thought of actually being one. He'd looked at himself in the mirror, and even without the scars he wouldn't have had a perfect exterior like Sasuke, Shino, and Shikamaru. Was it true? Was that why he could never beat Sasuke in a spar, or as a pilot, or with girls, or in school, or in rock-paper-scissor, or in races, or in shogi, or with probably not that many other things? Was he simply inferior, on a genetic level? The rest of the squad were Coordinators, and if he was a Natural, was it possible that he'd always come up short no matter how much he tried? No matter what he did? Was it his destiny to be the weakest link?

"Naruto…" Shikamaru prompted gently. He must have sensed Naruto's mood. Shika was really smart, even smarter than the Old Man. He didn't preen like Sasuke, but Naruto would never be able to hack another mobile suit, or give commands like him. It wasn't like he put in any effort to be smart; he didn't even study as hard as Naruto. He was just talented. Everyone on the team was talented. Everyone but him. "What did Tazuna hire us to do?"

"Alls we're doing is taking some scans of the asteroid belt," Naruto said. "Do you think I'm really a Natural like Itachi said?"

"We can talk about Itachi later," Shikamaru said. "Do you know why we're scanning the asteroid field?"

"We're looking for big rocks to blow a proto moon, Ceres, into orbit around Europa."

"And why are we doing that?" Shikamaru asked the question in a bored, put-upon voice, like he was some long-suffering teacher.

"What does it matter why?" Naruto asked defensively. "I've got to focus on remembering the important bits. It's too much to memorize everything. You just don't understand because you're a Coordinator!"

Shikamaru didn't respond immediately. Naruto could hear him put his fingers together, a habit he did when thinking hard. Everyone noticed that, but only Naruto noticed his calm, relaxed breathing. As if he were trying to meditate with the help of a breathing technique. Shikamaru always claimed laziness, but Naruto suspected that his mind was sprinting when he took his so-called naps.

"... Itachi said Fugaku thought you were a Natural. Why? Because you didn't answer a stupid math question a few minutes after having your face mutilated. Because you weren't pretty enough. That's a flimsy reason, a lot of parents don't care about that stuff," Shikamaru leaned into the microphone, his voice trembling. "You are a Coordinator. The way you pilot multiple ships at the same time, nobody else in the squad can do that Naruto. Even Sasuke thinks you're important. That's why he wanted you briefed on the mission. He knows we can't complete it without you. The truth is, Fugaku has it out for you. He always has. That's why he called you a Natural."

Shikamaru was smarter than Naruto. His logic was flawless. But he was wrong, dead wrong. He'd always had a blind spot with the Old Man. And Naruto's ability to control multiple ships, everyone acted like he had to keep his focus on every single one but he just kinda let them do their own thing. It was something anyone could learn to do. Naruto was a Natural. He felt it in his mediocre, untalented blood.

"You're right Shikamaru!" Naruto said loudly, hoping it seemed like one of his ordinary outbursts. He pounded a fist on the side of his metal cockpit. "I'm Naruto Shimura; I'm the best damn pilot in the entire solar system! And I'm gonna get Itachi back! Believe it!"

"... About that," Shikamaru said, and Naruto could hear the relief in his voice. He'd bought the front. Good, Naruto hated being pitied, and if Shikamaru had kept on looking down on him there would have been big problems. "I've been thinking about it ever since you told me about his call. If Itachi doesn't want to be found, he's probably got a good reason. I think the real question is why Fugaku lied to us about it."

"Bullshit!" Naruto yelled. "Itachi meant everything to Sasuke! We have to find him, and bring him back!"

"What if he doesn't want to come back?"

"Then I'll force him back! I'll beat some sense into Itachi, and drag him back kicking and screaming if I have too! We're a family, and families stick together!" His monitor display blinked green again. Another call? Naruto accepted it.

"Idiot, have you finally learned the mission details?" Sasuke asked.

"Of course I have," Naruto said pompously. "Probably better than you Bastard."

"Hnn," Sasuke said skeptically. "For what colony are we doing this? What is the mission objective? Why is this worth risking our lives?"

Easy, too easy. "We're gonna blow a big ass asteroid named Ceres into orbit around Europa to help the Rain Colony!"

"Hnn," Sasuke said contemptuously. "Idiot, have you read anything more than the abstract of the briefing? Who are the vested interests? Why did my father take this job?"

"Because I paid good money," said a gruff voice, from an even uglier man. Sasuke had to share his cockpit with Tazuna, poor Bastard. "I still can't believe that a super engineer like me is stuck with a bunch of snot nosed brats!"

"You take that back you piece of-"

"Hnn," Sasuke said exasperatedly. "Like my father told you, we're trained pilots. We'll help you create a moon to build a new space station on."

"I still don't see what the big deal is," Naruto complained. "You act like one measly space station will change things."

"Brat," Tazuna snapped. "My super space station will change everything. The Rain Colony is poor, but it's because we're isolated from the rest of the solar system. Extraterrestrial trade is commercially impossible without access to a lunar station."

"But it says here Europa already has one," Naruto said, flipping through the report for the first time. Sasuke may have been a bit right, he may have only read the abstract. But if they truly wanted him to read mission details they should have been more concise, and explained everything in five hundred words or less. Who was gonna read this thing? The report was as thick as a brick!

"Which is under control of the super corrupt, super evil, president Gato!" Tazuna said bitterly. Naruto heard the sound of sloshing alcohol. "But if I prove my super space station can be built I can break his control over the Rain Colony. My super bridge will be the first of many, and without his monopoly over space trade Gato's tyranny will finally come to an end."

"We're building a bridge?" Naruto asked. Now that was cool.

"Yes," Tazuna said. "Obviously, didn't you read the super report I meticulously wordsmithed?"

"If you want people to your stupid report you oughtta cut your flowery, purple prose you drunk old-" Sasuke had cut the line. And just when he'd been about to offer Tazuna some much needed constructive criticism. Well, maybe it would be a good idea to read the report. He tried to lift it, but it was too heavy. Just a joke, just a joke, there was no gravity in space. Another joke, there was gravity in space, just no terrestrial gravity, and hence its force was extremely weak. It was this principle that made a lunar base necessary for ET space trade. Launching a giant payload off a moon was far easier than launching it from a planet, because the energy needed to escape a moon was nowhere near the energy needed to escape a planet.

A tiny meteorite was disintegrated by Kurama's shields. He toggled through his cameras; they were on the edges of the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter. Plenty of giant rocks floated around Kurama, and the deeper they went into the field, the denser and larger the asteroids would be.

"Have you told anyone else about Itachi?" Shikamaru asked. Apparently, he'd stuck on the line. "If you haven't you probably should. They deserve to know Itachi is still alive, and it would be smart to let them know that a group of dangerous pilots is after you."

"No, this is gonna stay between the two of us," Naruto said, shaking his head. For such a smart guy Shikamaru sure could be stupid. "If Sasuke knew Itachi called me instead of him it'd break his-"

"What are you losers talking about?" Sasuke asked. He'd overridden the privacy settings.

"Nothing Bastard," Naruto said. He grinned as a perfect retort floated into his head. "We're talking about girls! Stuff a little gayboy like you wouldn't understand."

"Tsk, whatever Deadlast. We've got three bogeys waiting in ambush, just thought you oughta know."

Huh, where were they? Behind that big asteroid, maybe in that haze of space ice?

"Don't look around!" Sasuke and Shikamaru screamed through the comm line.

But it was too late. Three goufs appeared out of nowhere, camouflaged in the vacuum of space by some kind of advanced optic shielding. Their rifles were already bursting with energy, and a hail of laser beams slammed into Kurama. Sirens wailed all around him, red warning lights flashed, and the monitor was covered in shield down warnings. Alright, time to get out of the line of fire. He flipped a switch, pulled a lever, and Kurama's thrusters did nothing. Shit, they'd been blown to smithereens.

A gouf darted in front of him, a ball of light growing on the head of its rifle, aimed straight at Kurama's head. Naruto couldn't move. He was going to die as a liability.

Pathetic.

XOXOXOXOXOXOX

"Every single damn time!" Sakura growled. She'd searched for Naruto Shimura at least twenty times and all she'd gotten were articles about Danzou Shimura. He was the president of the Union of Free Citizens. A single party democracy made up of several old earth countries, the most noticeable being Russia and China. If she searched for just Naruto all she got were ads for ramen toppings.

"Shouldn't you be studying dweeb?" Ino asked, laying on Sakura's bed. "Acting like an airhead isn't gonna make your forehead any smaller, you know?"

Sakura blushed. "Shut up Ino-pig!"

"You were so much more interesting when you were a quiet girl who knew her place." Ino got out of Sakura's bed, walked behind Sakura, and gently placed her soft hands on Sakura's shoulders. "What about your GPA?" She whispered into Sakura's ear. "You can't afford to get distracted by whatever _this _is. You're the type of girl who needs to study, if you know what I mean."

Sakura did. She was smart, but she'd never be beautiful like Ino. Sakura's parents hadn't had the money to make her genetics perfect. They'd had to pick and choose which traits to give her an advantage in. Compared to other Coordinators she was average, she couldn't breeze through classes like Ino, but through hard work, dedication, and late study sessions she'd fought her way to the top of the class. "I beat you," she whispered.

"I let you," Ino laughed. "I saw how hard you were working and felt bad."

"No you didn't," Sakura said. But she wasn't as confident as she tried to sound.

"You were better back then," Ino said darkly. "Before you started spending all your time researching terrorists. Start studying again! I want it to mean something when I beat you. I want everyone to know I'm smarter than the best student in Heliopolis, not some conspiracist quack."

"I don't necessarily think it's a conspiracy," Sakura said. "The attacks definitely happened. The pilots were probably from earth though, not another space colony."

"Why would the earthlings ever attack us?" Ino demanded.

"The PLANTS. I mean, we're taught that they had some bad consequences on earth, but not how bad it was. Some of the Coordinators went down to earth in the relief effort. Look at the field articles by Might Guy and the reports by Kakashi Hatake. 60% of the energy in India and China came from nuclear power. The infrastructure around farming had been automated, and without the machines there was only enough food for five billion. Asia had a population of eight billion. Hundreds of thousands of Forest Colonists died because of the nuclear strike called Bloody Sunday. Billions of earthlings died from our PLANTS. We're taught it was unfortunate, but really the PLANTS were the greatest attroc-"

"SHUT UP!" Ino huffed, and Sakura suddenly realized why Ino had become so combative. Her earth conspiracy theory wasn't some quack theory, it was something that once made explicit was obviously true. "Shut up, shut up, shut up! You don't know what you're talking about Sakura! Bloody Sunday was an unprovoked nuclear assault! My father used to hate war, you know? But then they took his wife from him, some of his best friends from him. His best friend lost a son, Sakura! It was chaos. Families got broken. Some people were sent to earth, some to the moon, some to Jupiter, and some to the Sand Colony. Naruto Shimura and that pilot of the orange zaku you're so infatuated with are nothing but a bunch of murdering terrorists who should be hunted down and-"

"He saved my life!"

"From an attack that was his fault! I will have nothing to do with this!" Ino went for the door.

"Wait," Sakura called.

Ino stopped, and looked at Sakura hopefully.

"Can I still use your security clearance?"

Ino sniffed. "That's all you wanted me for, huh? Fine! Keep on using it, Haruno." She walked away shaking.

Sakura hugged a pillow. She went back to her computer, and started searching up the names of the Coordinators who had gone down to earth. The pilots of the big zakus had been skilled, they must've been Coordinators, or the children of Coordinators. Did any of them have children? Any named Naruto? She was going to exhaust every possibility finding her future husband, after all the pursuit had probably just cost her her best friend.

XOXOXOXOXOX

"Hold!" Sasuke pulled a switch, and Susanoo's thrusters slowed him to a stop. His squadron pulled beside him. The asteroid field had thickened, floating rocks like air bubbles in a jacuzzi. It was the perfect place for an ambush. He waited for the high-pitched complaints that haunted his dreams. But there was nothing but silence. Beautiful, peaceful, silence. The Idiot was gone, along with the smelly old man he'd been forced to share his cockpit with. Naruto's gundam, which he had idiotically named Kurama, had sustained heavy damages and had been needed to be towed to a local repair shop. Sasuke had used the opportunity to rid himself of Tazuna as well, convincing the old man that the safety was worth the small amount of time wasted transmitting information remotely.

Without those two, he could complete the mission without anxiety. He wouldn't have to worry about the Idiot jumping out of formation and giving away their position, nor the drunkard staining his cockpit with cheap liquor, nor endure hurtful comments about being a gayboy. Best of all, now that he had some privacy, he could write poetry without anyone finding out. He rummaged through Susanoo's glove box, until he felt a small ridge. Now the tricky part, he moved his fingers around until he found a small rod. Carefully, he pulled it up and out. If the secret compartment was opened without removing the trip wire, a bottle of ink would stain his secret diary, removing all evidence of his deviant behavior.

What would father think if he knew that Sasuke not only had feelings, but liked to express them through metered rhyme? How could he look at the rest of his squad members with pride, if they knew he was secretly such a fruit? Obviously, such precautions were warranted. As he flipped through the pages of the leatherbound journal, his heart started to race. What to write about? Perhaps the beautiful pinkette from earlier? Yes, describing the emotions of a young bachelor's brush with the hormones and obsession of first love-

"Smart thinking," Shikamaru said, causing Sasuke to jump in his cushioned seat. He'd forgotten to close the comm line. He hadn't said anything incriminating had he? Well, it was simply too dangerous now, to have his diary out in the open. He hid it back in the secret compartment in the glove box. "Since we've already been attacked once, there's about an 87% chance that the mission details have been leaked to a hostile third party. This shouldn't have come as a surprise. There are vested interests. Gato is the president of Europa and he makes a killing on his monopoly of the only space station orbiting the Rain Colony. No way he lets us break his power without a fight."

"That sound of pages rustling from earlier were from me inspecting Tazuna's report," Sasuke said carefully.

"What are you talking about?" Shikamaru asked. "Why would we even care?"

"I believe he was looking at something he does not want us to know about," Shino explained. "Given his age and gender, it was most likely pornography. Now he is lying to us to cover up his enormous shame."

Well, it was certainly better than them thinking he was some poetry writing fruit. "Shino, send your drones ahead of us, so they can start modelling the asteroid field and let us know if there are any zakus or goufs waiting for us."

"Yes sir," Shino said. He held out Bug Gundam's palms, and a swarm of small, spherical robots called haros flew out. Partially autonomous, they'd been outfitted for space flight, and could deftly maneuver silently and invisibly. Each had 3D laser scanners which would create a dynamic model of the cluster of asteroids around their proto moon, Ceres, which Shino would beam to Tazuna. They could also suction onto enemy mobile suits and drain them of their power. Unfortunately their range was limited, and they had to remain close to Shino's Bug Gundam. Slowly they dispersed into the asteroid field, diffusing like black ink drops in a clean glass of water. "The coast is clear," Shino said after a few minutes. Thrusters from Bug Gundam's back dimly blazed, and he inched forward slowly. Shikamaru followed behind, with Sasuke taking the more dangerous rear position. Then Shino slowed to a stop. After a few minutes he began moving again, surely at the slowest allowable speed.

Something was missing. A little symbol about hotkeys flashed on his monitor, apparently he'd pressed the shift button five times without noticing. It was quiet. Too quiet. Was this a trap? Sasuke toggled his cameras, an asteroid here, an asteroid there, nothing suspicious. What was he doing? Why was he so on edge? Shino had scouted the area already, there couldn't possibly be any zakus arou-

Still nothing but black empty space. Boring silence. Tempting fate had done nothing. Sasuke opened comm lines with Shino and Shikamaru. But he had nothing to say. No commands to give, and encouragement would sound unnatural.

"I must focus on my drones," Shino said, cutting the comm line.

Just him and Shikamaru then. Boring, boring Shikamaru.

"...Does the silence of space ever frighten you?" Sasuke finally asked.

"...This isn't some kind of trick is it?" Shikamaru asked. "If I say yes, you're gonna scold me for my nerves, and if I say no, you're gonna scold me for not being alert."

"I'm just trying to gauge the psychological profile of my squadron," Sasuke said. "Answer honestly, so I can more effectively lead you."

"Well then… To be honest I enjoy the silence," Shikamaru said, slowly warming to the subject. "Silence is good for naps. Strangely enough though, a little white noise can be less distracting than no noise at all. Take for example lying on a grassy hill on a sunny day, with just a few clouds overhead. The chirping of the birds is actually more peaceful than the silence of space, the slight pressure of the sunlight on skin is more comforting than the dim lighting of the cockpit, and the tickle of grass on the nape of your neck is more relaxing than any cushioned chair. I hypothesize that this must be related to the behaviors instilled in our ancestors, for generations this was how man relaxed, and even though we've invented more technically comfortable environments, ancient instincts compel us to most enjoy these beautiful lazy afternoons. Compared to that, space is obviously not the best for napping," Shikamaru yawned.

"Keep alert," Sasuke scolded. He couldn't afford soldiers sleeping on the job.

"Troublesome," Shikamaru sighed, and cut the comm line.

The next few hours were excruciating. Sasuke was tempted, ever so tempted, to get out his diary. But if things went sideways, they'd go sideways quick, and he wouldn't have time to put it back into the hidden compartment. After combat it was possible that he'd forget he'd left it out, and there was a chance his shameful hobby would be discovered, and everyone would call him a fruit. It was simply a chance no sane man would be willing to take. Of course he couldn't create poetry aloud, or even in his head. The chances of it somehow leaking through the commlines were far too high to warrant such a gamble. So instead he bore his boredom silently, like a man, not emoting physically, through speech, or any other form of art. Instead he pushed his unease down, past his chest, through his legs, and out his feet, letting it radiate away into space.

"My drones have mapped the local cluster of asteroids," Shino said. Sasuke navigated to their shared folder, found the day's date, and opened the 3D map file. Immediately he noticed a red X 157 miles in front of them. He touched the X and viewed the picture of the asteroid. Rocky, black, and bumpy, he couldn't find the outline of a mobile suit no matter how he looked. "The gouf on the map is camouflaged, but it is there. My drones have confirmed."

Sasuke flipped through the different sensor datas. Nothing suspicious thermally either. "They look good to me," Sasuke said. "Explain yourself."

"I apologize, I didn't realize you were the expert on analyzing drone findings. My mistake. Through my amateur lens of perception, feeble though they may be, I have found discrepancies between pictures taken of the surface of the asteroid at separate angles at similar times. There was no parallax between the images, which indicates an optical camouflage."

Sasuke supposed there was no point in having a scout in the squadron if he ignored his warnings. So their pace slowed even more, as they approached the enemy methodically, taking care to always hide behind asteroids.

"...I have a proposal," Shikamaru said, once they finally neared the enemy mobile suit. "Can you guys open up your maps?" Sasuke had never closed it. A sphere had been drawn around the enemy mobile suit, and a cube had been inscribed within the sphere. "The sphere represents the range of the top radars on the market. That is the furthest out we could be and have the enemy spot us."

"Then why the hell were we moving so slow all this time?" Sasuke demanded. He'd only put up with that shit because he'd thought it had been for security.

"We were moving at a perfectly natural pace," Shino said. "You and Naruto just like to hurry through missions like we're on some kind of time limit. It is infuriating."

Sasuke ground his teeth.

"Confirmed," Shikamaru said. "I liked the slower pace Shino. Anyways, if you'll look at the markings I made on the map you'll see a cube within the sphere. Sasuke you take position on one of the two upper front vertices of the cube. When you've got somebody diagonally above you, it's almost impossible to dodge their shot. You're the best shot of all of us, so you get the easiest position. I will take an adjacent vertice on the upper face of our cube, and Shino, you need to be between us on the bottom of the cube so he can't escape away from us. With this spacing, we'll have him dead to rights, and we won't have to worry about friendly fire. Let's all switch our rifle to grape shots, so we can increase our spread, and further decrease the chance of us missing."

"Hnn," Sasuke protested. He hated switching his rifle to grape shots, it took much more time to charge a shot, and was only useful when you were fighting a group of enemies or had bad aim. Neither was the case here. He was a skilled pilot, not some greenhorn, he didn't need some shotgun bullshit.

"This plan has a 97.3% chance of success," Shikamaru said enthusiastically. "Best of all it won't be that much work. Even mediocre pilots, hell even Naruto could complete this plan."

"Tsk," Sasuke said. For a supposedly smart guy Shikamaru sure could be stupid.

"Hey," Shikamaru said. "Take it easy Sasuke. If you just follow the plan everything will be easy. Don't blow everything to hell like Naru-"

Sasuke had already blasted his thrusters to full power. It would cost his shields a deflection, and it was well worth it to put an end to this skulking around like cockroaches nonsense. He dodged around an asteroid with ease, hurdling at full speed towards the enemy gouf.

"Great," Shikamaru complained, following behind reluctantly. "Sasuke just pulled a Naruto."

Somebody had to. This was how things should be, eye-to-eye, man-to-man, full frontal attacks. Let the more special pilot win.

His instincts screamed, and he overclocked the boosters on his right foot. Susanoo twirled around a giant claymore, which spun past him harmlessly. It had been a good attack, but not nearly good enough.

"Two out of three brats ain't bad," a voice boomed over the public comm line. Sasuke looked behind him. Shadow Gundam had lost its legs, Bug Gundam had lost its head. Nonfunctional, Shika and Shino were now worse than useless, they'd need protecting.

A giant zaku coated in reflective silver paint emerged from behind an asteroid. It held out a hand and caught the claymore it had thrown like a boomerang.

The red X blinked on Sasuke's monitor, still far in the distance. Had it been a decoy? No, probably an enemy reinforcement.

Not only was it two against one but he'd have to escort the rest of his squad to safety. The situation was as bleak as any he'd ever been in.

Sasuke smirked. He wouldn't have it any other way. He blasted straight towards the giant silver swordsman.

XOXOXOXOX

**Author's Note: **If you're wondering why Shino was pissed at Sasuke near the end of the chapter refer back to the beginning of the chapter. I'll be releasing daily updates to the story up to July 4th.


	6. New Moon Rising - Part 2

Naruto had been saved again. By that bastard Sasuke. It wasn't the first time, it wouldn't be the last time. Shikamaru and Shino had also saved him before. It was part of being a squadron, your wingmen looked out for you. But how many times had the cards been reversed? How many times had it been Naruto doing the saving?

Much, much less, if ever. He needed them. But they didn't need him.

"You sure got your ass handed to you by those goufs. I knew the deal was sketchy." Tazuna said, downing a few gulps of amber-colored liquor. It was cheap, and made the cockpit smell like stale alcohol and rancid sugar. Kurama wasn't really built for two people, so they were squished together rubbing elbows, and Tazuna was very, very sweaty. "I suppose you get what you pay for. Are you even really a Coordinator?"

As much as Naruto would have normally complained, he deserved this. Kurama's boosters were smoking, black slashes of cooled molten metal staining its orange profile like scars. He'd put his mobile suit through torture through his incompetence, lack of reflexes, and inability to adapt to the situation. Their damn driver had to extend her truck's shield to encompass Kurama, so some floating piece of space debris didn't tear through its metal frame like it was soft tissue paper.

"Tell me about your super bridge," Naruto said, ignoring the question. How could he answer, when he didn't know himself?

"Fine brat, let's talk about it." Tazuna put down his bottle. "I know what everyone thinks of the Rain Colony. We're poor because we're lazy, because we're stupid, because we deny science, because many of us refuse to have our children altered into Coordinators. Nonsense. We are poor because of Gato's greed. He has ensured that the government has full control over our only lunar port, and that only things he wants comes in and out of the Colony."

"Why don't you just kill him?" Naruto asked. "That's gotta be cheaper, quicker, and easier than blowing a whole 'nother moon into orbit."

"Before Gato it was Hanzo. The port allows whoever controls it to rule with an iron fist. It attracts tyrants like moths to a flame. I blame Gato for all the horrible things he has done, but it is the lunar bridge itself that is the problem. Killing Gato will do no good." Tazuna drank from the bottle. "Even if it did, I'm a damn engineer brat, not a politician. I build things. I don't kill people." He slammed the bottle down, a few drops of liquor spraying on Kurama's leather cushioned seat. "But my super bridge will be the first of many. Other Europans will follow my lead, and soon we'll be as rich as the other colonies!" Tazuna put a hand on Naruto's shoulder. "This is a good cause son. You lot will be called terrorists, Gato has already sent some of his goons to stop you, but you're doing a good thing. My super bridge will bring immediate aid to millions of starving colonists, and save billions of lives over the course of centuries."

"Hell yeah! I'll help you out you old drunk!" Tazuna didn't look too impressed by Naruto's outburst. "... Just as soon as I get grumpy old Kurama here feeling a little better."

Tazuna sighed.

"Don't worry, Kurama's a tough guy," Naruto said, smacking the metal walls of the cockpit. "Ain't that right buddy?"

A notification appeared on the monitor. Naruto pulled up the new map file of the asteroid field that was being rendered by Shino's drones. The old drunk got to work doing calculations that Naruto found boring, tedious, and incomprehensible. "Just don't get shot down again," Tazuna sighed.

Excellent advice. No thrusters, but everything else was working. Naruto knew he wasn't the best pilot, knew he wasn't talented compared to the others, but none of that really mattered. The only way for anyone to improve, whether they be a prodigy or a deadlast, was to put in the work.

Naruto got out Kurama's rifle and took aim at a nearby meteor, maybe 1000 meters in size, about 25 miles away. He moved his fingers along a touchscreen to aim, and toggled to the scope's view. He waited for the sights to align and fired. Missed it by about thirty feet. He'd have been better off letting Kurama aim through the automatic program.

"You should ask whichever earth program that created you for your money back," Tazuna scoffed. "Well whatever. At the price I paid, my super business intuition told me I was being scammed. Glad I double-booked."

A feminine giggle through the intercom cut off Naruto's retort. "Would you like me to teach you how to shoot Naruto?"

"Um, uh-uhh," was Naruto's reply. Dozens of questions erupted from Naruto's imaginations, from whether or not to invite Sasuke to their eventual wedding, to how she even knew his name. An elbow to the ribs knocked him out of his reverie.

"When a super babe asks you if you want to do something together there should be only one response," Tazuna sagely advised, sipping whiskey.

"I'd appreciate it ma'am," Naruto said, blushing.

Another feminine giggle. "My name is Haku."

XOXOXOXOX

Sabers clashed. A thin sheen of energy coated the blade of the claymore like a chain on a saw. This kind of sword fighting was about leverage and angles- physical strength and speed meant nothing, but any lapse in concentration would be punished by a quick death- and the enemy zaku had no flaws.

Itachi had taught him to observe the enemy closely. Their movement, their behavior, their patterns, but all these things required data. Sasuke darted in, stabbing his beam sword straight at the enemy's cockpit. His blade was met weakly by the tip of the silver zaku's broadsword. The enemy's sword trembled, and Sasuke pressed his advantage, slamming his thrusters forward.

The zaku suddenly dropped his sword, and Sasuke found himself overextended. The enemy kneed Susanoo in the gut, and Sasuke was sent flying into a nearby asteroid. The double impact had almost sapped all of his shields, and had hurt like hell. Worse, he'd lost his grip on his beam sword, and it was lodged in a nearby comet, sublimating out a cloud of steam. He wouldn't be getting it back for the rest of the fight.

A setback to be sure, but Susanoo still had a rifle and a pair of combat knives. The zaku was about a mile in the distance, and growing farther, Sasuke was still technically moving away from it because of the kick. The swordsman's zaku stared pointedly at the incapacited Bug and Shadow Gundams, all but daring Sasuke to come back to him.

Well, well, well, what kind of pilot would Sasuke be to let such a polite invitation go unnoticed? He armed himself with the combat knives and blasted off the hunk of rock beneath him, using it to spring himself towards the silver zaku.

It swung at his head with a ridiculous homerun swing, and Sasuke ducked the strike easily. Then he noticed that the zaku had swung with one hand, the other was held in the opposite direction with thrusters blasting at full force. The maniac was using his sword as a helicopter propeller, spinning faster and faster, forcing Sasuke to do his best to dodge each slash. But the barrage was never ending, and each strike only grew in power. He held out his knives to block the claymore, and they shattered on impact. His shield took another hit, failed, and Susanoo's left arm went flying into the vacuum.

The momentum of the zaku's spinning attack was finally stalled, so he'd survived that attack at least. All it had costed him was his knives, his shields, and an arm. Now he was left with his rifle. Which took two arms to operate. Sasuke shivered. His heart was racing, his teeth aching, his arms felt weak, and his knees were shaking. It had been a long time since he'd been terrified on the battlefield.

But panicking wouldn't help anything. He'd seen pilots survive far worse than this. Now, what did Naruto always do? Get saved by Sasuke. Okay, okay, not useful, think of something else. Call for backup? No, nobody close, except maybe Naruto.

Naruto… He was really the only chance they had now. Sasuke opened the comm line, but Kurama was still well out of range. The only hope was to stall or maybe…

"Where are those flashy moves now little greenhorn?" Asked a cruel voice on the open comm lines. "Not moving much are you?"

Sasuke didn't know what to say. So he said nothing. He just hoped the enemy pilot was the kind of guy who liked the sound of his own voice. He needed all the time he could get.

"You're a baby, you know that?" The enemy pilot said gleefully. "You must've thought you were hotshit beating up on pathetic Naturals. You've never really flown until you've fought an experienced Coordinator, which means you've really never fought anyone. All that showboating you were doing doesn't work on someone who can actually handle a mobile suit. You've never really risked your life on the battlefield have you? Until now. You're no pilot."

The zaku moved in, and Sasuke tried his best to fight him off with the rifle. But within a few flurries, the zaku had gotten around Sasuke's guard, and had Susanoo secured by the neck. The broadsword inched closer and closer to Sasuke's cockpit. "Time to die little greenhorn."

Sasuke smirked. This was what he'd been planning since he'd realized he was outclassed during their second exchange. He would self-destruct. It would take care of the zaku, and ensure that the genocidal space Coordinators didn't get their hands on Gundam technology.

A laser beam flashed between him and the murderous zaku.

Sasuke breathed. He'd never been so relieved to see Naruto.

But when he looked for the laser's origin he didn't find Kurama's hulking, orange form. Instead he saw a small, gray gouf, with a red cross painted across its chest.

An incoming call came from an unknown number. Sasuke opened the comm line.

"Please don't try to help; you'll only get in the way. Amateur." The voice was almost as haughty as it was arrogant. The man who'd saved him was undoubtedly an enormous asshat.

But at least he wasn't Naruto.

XOXOXOXOXOX

"Naruto Shimura, huh?" Asked Ino's father thoughtfully. "You're sure that's his name?"

"I've looked through all the files, and the name wasn't in any of the student files," Ino said. That was how she and Sakura had gotten started on this goose chase after all. It had been fun back then. Ino wasn't sure what was going on with her best friend, she'd thought only weak girls fell for smoltzy things like bad boys. Even so, wasn't having a crush on an enemy of the state like way too far? "So he must've been one of the terrorists piloting those giant zakus."

"And there wasn't anything else?" Her father asked sharply. "Anybody acting suspicious?"

"Nope." Ino said. Her father was stuck on the wrong things. She and Sakura had already done some digging. She just wanted to find the terrorists, and see them judged. If they were old Coordinator pilots, Natural sympathizers from the old Forest Colony, she'd like to see them executed, but she suspected that Sakura was right. The pilots were the children of Coordinators. They'd probably been brainwashed, and could be reformed. It wouldn't erase what they'd done, they'd still see a century of jail time, but Ino didn't believe in a vengeance based justice system.

"You seem so sure they're from earth," her father said, staring at her from across the table. The walls of the room were a flat white and devoid of any posters or pictures. It was empty, but for the table, the interrogator, and the interrogatee. Whatever, Ino was used to it. "Why?"

"The last name daddy," Ino said easily. "Shimura. Same as-"

"Danzou Shimura, the Premier of the Free Citizens dictatorship," Inochi finished icily. "I'm disappointed Ino. That's hardly proof, anyone could have come up with it."

"You weren't there daddy," Ino protested. "He was being honest. I could tell." Thinking back, that other boy had hung his head when Naruto had shared his name. He'd probably realized that his comrade had just compromised their identities. And yet he'd just let Ino go. Wise of course, Ino would've handed that noodle-armed boy his ass if he'd tried her, but he had no way of knowing that. Maybe, just maybe, Sakura was right. These were good people they were hunting. Just terribly confused.

"The name is interesting though." Her father strummed his index finger against the table thoughtfully. "The first name, far more than the last. It's either a coincidence or a message from someone with a truly twisted sense of humor."

"Naruto? Isn't that a ramen topping? It's a weird name, but I don't see what's twisted about it. I mean Menma is also a pretty common name."

"Yes, to an outsider maybe. But there is significance to that name that would be obvious to anyone high enough in the old Forest Colony government," her father said impatiently. "I can only think of two people who would do such a thing. They are by far the two largest threats the Forest Colony has ever known. One is Orochimaru."

Ino couldn't help but gasp. Orochimaru was once one of the most decorated pilots from the First Solar War. He'd been the pride of the Forest Colony, until his horrific human augmentation experiments had been exposed. Ino had once listened to some old interviews from the man. Oily, charismatic, and extremely intelligent, Ino could both see why some had wanted him as president even as she could simultaneously hear the insanity just below the surface. It was frightening how easily a monster could become beloved. "Wait? And the other?"

"The other, who I had convinced myself was dead, is a threat exponentially more dangerous," her father said. "If it was him who was behind the attack… If it was _that _family..." Her father stared into the distance, his hand trembling. If Ino didn't know better she would think he was scared.

"I can't ignore this," her father said, standing abruptly. "Hold on Ino, I've got a few calls to make… To some old friends."

XOXOXOXOX

The gray gouf was miniscule compared to the silver zaku, but was nevertheless fighting it on near equal terms.

The gouf used autonomous roving cannons called gunbits, just like Naruto did. But this pilot only had two, compared to Naruto's nine, and their power left a lot to be desired. They circled around the silver zaku like mosquitoes, as the zaku hacked at the gouf wildly with his claymore. Sasuke couldn't even see the gubits fire, their strikes were so small, he only saw their impact on the silver zaku's shield.

While the gouf was technically winning, landing small hits on the giant zaku and dodging all the opponent's blows, the difference in attack power would determine the fight. All the zaku needed to do was connect with one swing of the broadsword. Eventually it would.

But the zaku kept missing, as if there was some repulsive force between the gouf and the claymore. The strange thing was that Sasuke knew the approximate specs of both machines, and according to them, the zaku had better mobility, acceleration, a faster top speed, and was easier to handle. It was true, if Sasuke examined the two mobile suits closely the zaku's movements were actually quicker. But the gray gouf reacted to the zaku's attacks before they even started. Impossible of course, it must have been anticipating movement, noticing attack patterns and punishing the telegraphs. Its movements streamed together like water, always in the correct direction before Sasuke could tell why, each thruster blast smooth and efficient, pulling the machine exactly where it needed to go.

The pilot… Both of them really, but especially the gray gouf's, were better than him. Sasuke flinched instinctively at the thought, but he wasn't competing with either of them. Father wouldn't favor them over him, no matter how talented they were.

It's not like either were close to as good as Itachi had been before he'd... They were still more special than, better than him in all the ways that mattered. There was always someone better. The only way to beat people more special was to team up.

He toggled his cameras until he found the rest of his squad. They were no longer drifting in space, they'd latched themselves onto an asteroid. Shadow Gundam watched the zaku and gouf fight, its whip connected to Bug Gundam. It gave him the strength he needed.

With trembling hands he navigated to the comm lines and found two unknown numbers. Only one had an earth area code. He dialed it.

"This is the pilot of the black mobile suit," Sasuke whispered, each word hurting more than the last. "How can I act as… Support?"

The zaku finally landed a blow, ripping the gouf's left arm off its body, wires sparked in the darkness, looking like entrails as the arm flew off into the void.

"Fool, you've broken my concentration!" A haughty voice said through the comm line. "I told you to stay out!"

Sasuke hung his head. Itachi would have never made such a mistake.


	7. New Moon Rising Part 3

"Make sure the butt of the rifle is secure on your shoulder," Haku said warmly, in a totally lovely gentle voice. Naruto couldn't wait for her to get out of the cockpit, because she was definitely gonna be an s-class super babe! Wait, what was he fifty? She was gonna be a dime, he called beautiful girls dimes, that dirty old drunk was rubbing off on him. "Mobile suits don't breathe, so a lot of pilots think they don't have to honor the old firearm basics, but unless the rifle is secure its aim will still drift."

Naruto adjusted his hold on his rifle, and lined his sights at a passing meteorite. Haku was watching, so he really had to hit it. But he didn't. He missed.

"Do not worry Naruto," Haku said gently. "Everyone misses. For most pilots it is better to either use a grape shot or to lower the power settings on the rifle so there is less delay between rounds. Since we are practicing shooting, I would advise against grape shots."

Naruto's heart was swooning. He had thought that girls as nice, as kind, as pure as Haku didn't exist. Maybe it was a good thing he'd gotten shot down by those goufs.

Even at Haku's suggestion though, he still didn't like lowering the power on his rifle. Sasuke never had to, nor did he resort to using grape shots. But he'd look like an ass if he refused, and he wanted to show his best self to Haku. He sighed, pulled up the rifle settings on his touch screen, and adjusted the power output to a fifth of maximum capacity. The time between shots decreased tenfold.

He took aim at the streaking meteorite, pulled the trigger and missed again.

"Keep your eyes open Naruto," Haku said. "You missed, but in what direction? By how much?"

"Yes ma'am," Naruto said, and fired again. He missed by ten feet at an upward diagonal to the target. He adjusted the barrel of the rifle, and fired again. Another miss, this time by three feet, just below. Another adjustment, aim, and fire. He got it! But his puny shooter wasn't even able to vaporize the sorry hunk of ice.

"Keep shooting Naruto!" Haku barked.

Right. Naruto kept firing. Each time he hit the meteorite its trajectory varied, just a little. To keep hitting it forced him to constantly adjust his aim.

"Now disengage."

Naruto holstered his rifle.

"Draw and fire."

Naruto did so, and was able to hit the meteorite after only two attempts this time. Haku forced him through this cycle until he could consistently hit his target on his first shot.

"Turn the power back up," Haku advised.

Naruto followed her instruction, and took aim at an asteroid about a 1000 meters across, and 25 miles away. Just the same as the one he'd first shot at, when he'd missed by thirty feet. Had he actually improved? It was time to see. He squeezed the trigger, and the asteroid exploded, like something out of Star Wars. Naruto let out a breath, he was glad he hadn't made a fool of himself in front of his dream girl.

"You know, you kind of remind me of _that _pilot. You take instruction pretty well kid." Naruto found Tazuna staring at him thoughtfully. "You've surprised me. Most of the pilots I've met have been set in their ways. They're not looking for outside help."

And Tazuna surprised him by noticing. Nobody else ever did. Perhaps it was because he was surrounded by Coordinators, for whom everything came easy, but he was the only person in the squadron who'd had to learn how to learn, and learned how to be taught. "One day I'm gonna be the best mobile suit fighter in the solar system." Naruto smiled and held out a fist. "Believe it!"

"You keep improving," Tazuna said, bumping Naruto's fist. "And you just might."

"No," Haku said. "That is impossible. It would be better if you gave up on that dream now."

"You think that just because I'm a Natural I can't compete with a Coordinator? You've just met me Haku, and I may not be much, but I've got the best damn mobile suit in the galaxy! When I get on Kurama's level, we'll be unstoppable!"

"The mobile suit is just a tool, it is the pilot that matters," Haku said sadly. "And you will never be among the best. You said you are not a Coordinator, and if that were all you had to overcome then perhaps there would be a chance. The problem, Naruto Uzumaki, is that you are not a Newtype."

Naruto shared a glance with Tazuna. The drunk shrugged. He didn't know either. "Newtype?"

"Do you ever feel like your mobile suit is an extension of your body?" Haku asked.

"Sure. All pilots have."

"And your rifle?"

"I'm not a great sniper, but I can get like that with my gunbits."

"For a Newtype the entire battlefield is like an extension of their body. They can feel what their opponent is going to do before they do and hitting a target is as easy as touching your nose."

"That's impossible," Tazuna blustered. "I've never heard of such a thing!"

"They are only unknown because they defy science. Have you seen Star Wars Naruto? If so, Newtypes can be thought of as jedi. Scientists have studied genomes from families famous for producing Newtypes like the Hyugas, and been unable to find any pattern. Stranger still, even clones lack the abilities of the originals."

"That's pseudo-scientific super bullshit! It sounds like you're talking about espers."

"Perhaps a demonstration?" Haku asked. "On your control panel there is a keyboard. Put one finger on the 'f' and the other on the 'k'."

Tazuna did so, grumbling the entire way.

"Now on the count of three, I want you to press one of them. One, two- you're going to press the k."

"Lucky guess."

"Again then? Three- the k. Again? This time the f. Now the k."

Tazuna spluttered. "Impossible." He rummaged through the cockpit, looking for hidden cameras. But even if Haku had access to them, she wouldn't have had access to his mind. Despite that Tazuna had to be right, magic didn't exist. There had to be some kind of trick to it.

"How did you-"

"I'm sorry," Haku said hurriedly. "I must go. I'm getting a distress signal, and they must take priority. I know you two will be fine if I temporarily leave you."

"No we won't," Naruto said. "I need to get Kurama fixed and rejoin my team."

But Haku had already untethered them. Her white gouf was blasting off, full throttle. "And by the way. I'm a boy."

XOXOXOX

Sasuke had borrowed a combat knife from Shino, and rejoined the fight despite the pilot of the gray gouf's protests. Perhaps it would have been wiser to get out of here while the silver zaku was distracted, as Shikamaru had suggested, but there was one problem. He wasn't a pussy ass bitch.

Having seen the zaku's movements from afar, Sasuke was better able to read the zaku's erratic attacks. A flash in the thermal readings of the right arm meant he had to prepare for a… The heat signature morphed, and Sasuke slammed on his upper left thrusters, narrowly dodging the diagonal slash of the broadsword. He couldn't explain what he was doing in words, not even to himself, but he was instinctively reading the patterns, not bothering to translate his impression to conscious thought, relying on that to quicken his reactions. It was enough to survive, but not enough to counterattack.

Only the gray gouf could fight. But the lasers from its two tiny gunbits deflected off the zaku's shields harmlessly. One had even ricocheted into Susanoo, with all its shields down, and had only left a small burn. Sasuke wished he still had his beam sword, but it, and the meteor it was stuck in were long gone. At least he had a combat knife, and if they wanted to win, he'd have to get through the zaku's impenetrable guard.

He had to be faster. His instincts screamed, and Sasuke slammed on his thrusters, narrowly avoiding disembowelment from a stab of the zaku's sword, which seamlessly morphed into a vertical slash. He just managed to avoid it.

Faster. Dodge, dodge, dodge, he had to be faster.

He pushed his instincts to their limit, abandoning all structured thought. Susanoo became an extension of his body. He swayed his back to avoid a forward lunge, jumped over a sweep of his legs, danced around the zaku's helicopter attack that had earlier cost him an arm. Barely keeping up. More, more he had to go even farther beyond. His senses expanded further, to include his combat knife. He ducked a roundhouse aimed at Susanoo's head, and countered with a lightning fast thrust to the zaku's chest. It easily parried the blow with its claymore, and it was all Sasuke could do to hold onto his knife. He restabalized, rebalanced, just in time to avoid getting his legs chopped off. More, more, he could attack now, but not effectively. A flash of inspiration.

He slowed, and left an opening in his right guard too large to be considered a feint. The zaku took the bait, and swung his sword. One of Shino's harus exploded, redirecting the blow into Sasuke's right thigh. Sasuke buried his knife into the zaku's shield generators, disabling it. It had cost him a leg, but it was well worth it.

He jerked in his cockpit, and regained his senses. Shikamaru was screaming at him through the cockpit, and had hooked his remaining leg with his whip. "Let go Shikamaru. That's an ord-"

"I'm your direct superior!" Shikamaru barked, angrier than Sasuke had ever heard him. "And you will follow my orders!"

Sasuke struggled against the whip, but it was pointless. Shadow Gundam had deactivated Susanoo's thrusters… Susanoo's thrusters, not Sasuke's thrusters. He'd lost whatever magic had allowed him to expand his senses into Susanoo and fight the zaku on near equal terms. He viewed its battle with the gray gouf and sighed. He could no longer read their movements. He could still see them of course, even a Natural civilian could do that, but he did not understand their origin, why they were moving the way they were moving. If he went back out there, it would just be a pointless suicide. "What's the plan then? And I won't be running away."

"Nor will I," Shino said. "I would rather die, even with Sasuke, honorably in battle than run like a coward with you."

"Troublesome," Shikamaru sighed. "Retreating would be so much easier, but I knew you two wouldn't go along with it, so I've devised a new, more difficult plan to take down the zaku. However, it relies on several assumptions of the pilot's temperament. Argh, such a pain! I wish Naruto was here so I could get a second opinion, you two have the empathy of a couple of mantises. My best guess though, based upon his interactions with Sasuke, is that he looks down on us and respects the gouf. If we rejoin the battle he'll target the weakest of us as a show of force. He'll think that we'll freeze seeing one of our comrades killed. Here's how we take advantage of that."

Shikamaru went over the plan. Sasuke didn't like it, it seemed dishonorable to rely on smoke and mirrors, but despite what everyone thought Sasuke was not an egomaniac. If following Shikamaru's cowardly strategy was the only way to complete the mission then that was what he'd do.

"Hey dufus," Shikamaru said energetically over the open comm lines. Sasuke followed, as Shadow Gundam charged the zaku.

"What are you doing?" Asked the haughty voice of the gray gouf. "Keep away. I do not have time to babysit amateur loudmouths currently."

"You just took me by surprise," Shikamaru boasted, putting his all into channeling Naruto's obnoxious attitude. The plan would probably work. Sasuke wanted to punch him in the gut already, and he knew Shikamaru was only acting. "But I'll definitely beat you and avenge my friend. Why? Because I'm Naruto Shimura, the best damn pilot in the solar system, and I've got my wingman behind me. Together we can't lose. Believe it!"

The silver zaku, swung his broad sword wildly at the gray gouf to create some separation. Then he blasted straight at Shadow Gundam.

Sasuke frantically called the gray gouf's comm line. "No time to explain. Strike when the zaku is on the defensive and guide it to the x on the map I've shared with you." Then he flew away, into the same damn position on the cube Shikamaru had gone over before everything had gone sideways. Upper corner. Impossible to dodge an accurate shot if they got the zaku in position.

"Welcome to the real world brat," the zaku taunted cruelly. "Looks like your wingman abandoned you." He towered over Shadow Gundam.

Sasuke adjusted his rifle's settings. Power all the way up to 100%, no grape shot, he would gamble everything on a single strike. If he missed they'd all be dead, but he would not miss.

The zaku pulled the claymore behind its head, prepared to cleave Shadow Gundam in two. Shikamaru tried to blast away, but he'd forgotten his Gundam had lost its legs earlier. "Eeek!" Shikamaru cried. The blade came down, and Shikamaru held his arms over his head defensively.

The claymore got stuck halfway through them. "What the hell?" Shika's shadow whip had coiled around the blade, sticking it to Shadow Gundam. "You think you're smart brat? Attaching yourself to my blade. I'll just hack you in ha-"

Shino struck then, with a swarm of haros.

The zaku fell back, leaving his giant sword stuck halfway in Shadow Gundam. The gray gouf struck from behind, peppering it with a spray of fire from his two gunbits. The silver zaku was smoking, its reflective coating glowing with each strike it received.

Almost there, almost there, the zaku was almost on the X. Sasuke's barrel shook. He'd never shot with an arm missing before. Oh shit, he couldn't stabilize the rifle! He needed to turn down the power, he needed to switch to a larger spread, this shot was impossible!

"Sasuke!" Shikamaru barked. "Take the shot!"

The zaku was in position. No time for adjustments. He squeezed the trigger, energy balled on the barrel. Sasuke couldn't miss. Time slowed. His senses expanded

"Shit!" The zaku's pilot swore; he'd noticed Sasuke. He'd changed his trajectory. Sasuke could feel it, just like he could feel the barrel of the rifle. Susanoo, the zaku, the gouf, the two depleted Gundams, even the asteroids and space itself, they all felt like extensions of his body.

He would not miss.

His rifle exploded with a surge of energy, as large at the one he'd used to breach Heliopolis's walls. The giant beam obliterated an asteroid, flew past the gray gouf, lit up Shadow and Bug Gundam, and… and…

...

He had missed the zaku completely.

...

...Sasuke smirked.

The shot had been close enough though, to do the job. The heat from the laser had melted the zaku's legs into a worthless mess of liquid metal, and had lit one of the zaku's arms on fire. A black chemical fire, so reactive that it could occur in space, where Oxygen was absent. He, the gray gouf, Shadow Gundam, and Bug Gundam flew towards the flaming wreckage. All that was left was to finish the kill. It was a race Sasuke wanted to win. Nothing felt better than killing the enemy.

A thin streak of light briefly illuminated the battlefield. It had pierced the cockpit of the zaku. The pilot was dead. Sasuke's kill had been stolen. He located the thief, and gnashed his teeth. So that was it.

A gouf as white as ice holstered a small beam rifle. Four es shaped squiggles that denoted the Rain Colony military were engraved on its forehead. "Thank you for your help," a lovely feminine voice said over the comm lines. "This man stole a Rain Colony mobile suit. I have been hunting him down, and I wasn't looking forward to fighting him. You've made my job much easier."

Sasuke's nail dug into his palms. It was standard procedure for a military to demand that their mobile suit be returned to them, but something about the situation didn't sit right with him. "Identify yourself. How do we know you're not an accomplice?"

"Suspicious aren't you," the pilot giggled. "I am Haku Mimochi of the Rain Colony." Sasuke looked over her- his- file. Everything checked out. But still…

Haku's icy gouf moved fluidly, gently connecting the damaged zaku to a towing line. The zaku's pilot wasn't dead, Sasuke knew it, felt it, his instincts screamed it. Letting him go would be a mistake.

"Open up the cockpit," Sasuke demanded, igniting Susanoo's thrusters. "Let me confirm-"

"Stand down soldier!" Shikamaru said, his voice exhausted and put-upon. "Do you want to start another Solar War?"

Sasuke stilled his suit, but had his finger on the trigger of his rifle. He itched to shoot, to finish the job.

"Go," Shikamaru told Haku, throwing him the zaku's claymore. "I'm not sure how much longer my pilots can restrain themselves."

The zaku and the icy gouf disappeared into the void. Sasuke watched them disappear through narrowed eyes. They'd be seeing those two again, and soon. He'd be speaking to Father about Shikamaru, and what he'd done. If the squadron was under Sasuke's command these kinds of things wouldn't happen.

"You in the black zaku," the pilot of the gray gouf said, interrupting his brooding. "That was a shot worthy of a Hyuga. I'm Neji. What's your name?"

"Sasuke Shimura."

"Give me your real name fool. Half the orphans on earth call themselves Shimuras or Hyugas."

"I don't know it," Sasuke admitted quietly.

"I see," Neji said, his voice intense. "Are you a Coordinator?"

"Yes."

"Unfortunate," Neji sighed. "I would have allowed you to take the name Hyuga, but your parents have tainted your blood with technological filth. Perhaps you can consider yourself an Uchiha then, that abominable honor is the highest I can afford to give you."

"Hnn," Sasuke said, acknowledging the compliment politely. He supposed he was in a good mood. Something had happened in the battle, expanding his capabilities. It was an avenue he'd explore. But not now. Now they'd have to return to their lunar base, and get repairs done on their Gundams. That meant several hours of time alone, in which he could write poetry in his secret-

"Don't worry guys," said the bane of Sasuke's existence through a new comm line. "The hero is back in action. You're all saved!"

Sasuke groaned. He'd somehow forgotten about Naruto. It would be a long flight home, full of irritating, half-cogent musings about drivel filth, rather than thoughtful metered rhyme about pinkettes, fleeting love, and the cruelties of fate.

XOXOXOXOX

"So how's my man Kurama doing?" Naruto asked, as Haku emerged from the bay area of his mechanic shop. It'd taken so long to get here, but it was hard to be mad. The zaku Haku had picked up was absolutely trashed, and the cockpit had been punctured. If he hadn't left immediately the pilot probably would have died. "Were you able to fix him up?"

"I have fixed the thrusters and the shield generator," Haku said, smears of black oil marring his traditionally beautiful face. "But I could not correct the software. What model of zaku is this? It rejected the open sourced software that I thought was standard."

Oh yeah, he'd forgotten. The old man always took care of Kurama's programming. He was real strict about it too, everything else about the gundam could be outsourced to outsiders, but the software was to be kept strictly in house. "Can Kurama fly?"

"Yes," Haku said. "But I cannot recommend operating a mobile suit with compromised programming. Even the slightest-"

"My team definitely needs me, the great Naruto Shimura, to save their asses. Believe it!" Naruto boasted. "They've probably fallen completely apart without me." Not even remotely true, Naruto trusted his teammates with his life, but there was no harm in exaggerating his importance in front of Haku. Just a little of course.

A big muscular man walked into the waiting room, and made his way to the coffee machine. He must've been the pilot of the zaku Haku picked up. Something about him immediately rubbed Naruto the wrong way, he had this put-upon grimace that reminded him of that no good Bastard Sasuke. "Who's the brat?" Asked the man without looking up, pouring coffee into a styrofoam cup.

"Just a fellow pilot," Naruto said cheerfully, ignoring his impression of the Sasuke-like man.

The bastard snorted, without looking up from his coffee.

Now that disrespect couldn't be allowed to pass. Not with Haku right there. "I'm a real badass. If we were both in suits I could prolly kick your ass. No offense."

"That's cute _little Natural_," The man said dismissively, and placed his coffee gently onto a coaster. He swaggered up to Naruto, and glared down at him. "Real cute. Your yapping reminds me of a puppy." He turned to stare through the window into the repair bay, right at Kurama. "But I heard you got beat by a bunch of low level goufs." The man ruffled his hair, his hand forcing Naruto to dip his head. Naruto tried to force himself back up, so he could glare back at the man, but he couldn't break his grip, couldn't fight back. The man was too strong. "It's not your fault _little Natural_. They were probably Coordinators. I'm sure you did your best, but the battlefield is no place for weaklings."

"Zabuza." Haku barked. "Let him go!"

Zabuza chuckled, and released his grip on Naruto's skull. "I'm just trying to save the _little Natural's_ life."

Naruto blushed. Okay, this guy was way worse than Sasuke. He called over Tazuna, and entered the bay area, so he could get to his suit. "You may be stronger than me Zabuza, you may be faster and smarter, but it doesn't matter, because out on the battlefield we don't fight alone. I've got my ship, you've got yours, but me and Kurama can take on anyone. With his power and my wiles we make an unbeatable team."

Zabuza snorted. "You talk like your mobile suit is a person. You're confused, it's just a machine _little Natural_. Just a pile of gears and levers."

Naruto narrowed his eyes, and helped Zabuza into the cockpit. "You're no pilot. A pilot would never talk about their suit like that. A pilot without his steed is nothing!"

Zabuza sneered. "If you ever see me in the battlefield _little Natural_, you'd better run. Fight back, and I'll kill you slow."

"My name is Naruto Shimura," Naruto said, climbing into the cockpit. "If we ever meet again, I want you to remember the name of the _little Natural_ who beat your ass senseless."

"Oh, let me give you one last piece of advice _little Natural_: paint your gundam a different color. Unless you're The Red Comet, orange is a ridiculous coating, and you're no Red Comet."

Tazuna held Naruto back, and initiated the takeoff. Orange was Kurama's favorite color, there was no way the proud mobile suit would accept a different coat! That punk Zabuza hadn't just disrespected him, now he was disrespecting Kurama.

Once they were back in the thick of the asteroid field, Tazuna let out a breath. "I've got a bad feeling about that Zabuza guy."

"You've got some pilot instincts in you." Naruto said, pulling up a map so he could locate his squadron. "I'm pretty sure he's been hired to kill us."

"And you did nothing?" Tazuna asked, throwing up his hands. He sighed. "Well, I can't blame you. He looked like he could snap you in half."

"I coulda' taken him," Naruto corrected. "We'll settle our fight in our suits. That's just the way of badasses like me and him."

Tazuna shook his head, pulled up the display of the asteroid field, and started doing calculations. Occasionally the old man muttered to himself, and rubbed his beard thoughtfully. Based on the diagrams, and the calculations he was doing, the purpose of the mission was to find the most efficient way to adjust the trajectory of the proto moon Ceres through indirect measures. They were to plant explosives on smaller asteroids near the proto moon, and use those asteroids to fling Ceres into orbit around Europa.

Ah hell yeah! He was finally within range of his teammates. They'd probably missed him. It looked like they'd had a bad time, they were all just sitting around. And there was a new guy too? Naruto had to be sure to introduce himself properly.

"Don't worry guys," said Naruto chipperly. "The hero is back in action. You're all saved!"

"The fight is over Idiot!" Sasuke groaned through the line. Naruto grinned, he'd known the Bastard would make it out of there okay.

"I know, I know, but you need somebody to tow you don't you?" Naruto asked. "Earth is definitely too far to fly looking like…" The gundams came into view on his monitor, and Naruto let out a whistle. Bug Gundam had lost its head, Shadow Gundam had no feet, Susanoo had lost an arm and a leg, and some gray gouf had also lost an arm. "Wow. You guys sure got your asses kicked huh? It was probably because I wasn't there to save you. Sorry guys."

"Impossible," said a haughty arrogant voice that must've been from the pilot of the gray gouf. "This jackass is the pilot of the famous Kyubi? Hinata has a… On him?"

"Got that right," Naruto confirmed happily. "Glad that somebody acknowledges my greatne-"

"I did no such thing," the haughty voice spluttered. "In fact, I consider you a frau-"

"Guys listen," Naruto said gravely, it was unfortunate, but he didn't have time to make smalltalk with his superfan. Naruto had vital information to share with the rest of his team, regarding the identity of their enemies. " The truck driver I met was... A total hotty! And that… person… they... totally offered me shooting lessons out of the blue. I didn't even ask, they just volunteered. I think they were into me guys. Don't be jealous, but this was like, totally the prettiest dude I've ever seen."

"The prettiest _dude_?" Sasuke asked, obviously bothered.

"Ten out of ten," Naruto confirmed.

"Dude?"

"And he was a complete smokeshow," Naruto said enthusiastically. He didn't blame Sasuke for being jealous, but he wasn't about to ruin his story for the Bastard's feelings. "He had this quiet, gentle strength, a total Yamato Nadeshiko bro."

Sasuke was silent with envy. Naruto didn't rub it in. Sasuke would eventually find a girl willing to accept his personality, but it would probably be quite a challenge. As his friend, Naruto knew he had to be supportive.

"Is he always such a jackass?" Asked the haughty pilot of the gray gouf.

"I find him quite normal actually," Shino said. "You and Sasuke though, I find your interpretations of the world, and how one should act within it, very strange."

XOXOXOXOX

**Author's Note: **There was absolutely no chance I was changing Haku's gender. One detail that may or may not come later is that Shikamaru does not believe Haku's explanation. However his squad is decimated, and not prepared for a fight with an enemy that may be just as strong as Zabuza. Shikamaru is perfectly content to avoid the conflict.


	8. New Moon Rising Part 4

**Author's Note:** I'll be updating the story every Thursday until the end of the arc.

XOXOXOXOX

It had been a long, annoying trip back to earth to get the mobile suits known as gundams repaired. Once on base Neji had offered to train Sasuke, for he suspected that the polite boy was a Newtype, and may actually prove useful for the latter stages of their mission. Truly though, it had been to distract him from his loneliness, from the sense of purposelessness he felt whenever he drifted too far from his princess.

Finally, Neji had put an end to his turmoil. It had been futile, it was inevitable that Neji would carry out his princess's orders, regardless of his feelings on the matter. He never could say no to precious Hinata, no matter how much he knew he should.

"Why'd you call me out here?" Asked the filthy blonde peasant. It was all Neji could do not to show his disgust. From the jackass's hideously disfigured cheeks, to the irritating alto of his voice, to his complete lack of skill and worth as a human being, Neji was utterly repulsed by the low-born piece of trash.

"My Hinata would want you to have this," he handed the scum his cousin's phone number. He reached into his pocket, and squirted some purell onto his palms. "She is a big fan. I do not wish you to taint her purity with your presence, but it would be a betrayal of her trust in me if I did not do this."

The piece of trash rubbed his chin and frowned, but Neji knew- he just knew- that underneath that frown was a perverted deviant, plotting to take advantage of precious Hinata's foolish crush. "How big is she?"

Neji forced himself to unclench his fists. The fool was enjoying this. Rubbing his nose in it. "She always insists on watching your highlights. She even allows it to distract from her philanthropy. Do not get me wrong, it is unworthy of someone of such royal blood to be infatuated with a product of media glitz such as you. At least though, you are a Natural, and have not foolishly tampered with your genetics like the rest of your tainted comrades."

"I meant how much does she weigh?" The despicable savage asked, revealing himself to be controlled by shallow, base instincts. "Is she a whale? Be honest."

"Agh!" Neji forced himself to remain calm, to not pummel the fool into utter oblivion. "Ack!"

"Bro it don't matter," the trash said, flapping its worthless mouth. He crumpled up the paper, precious Hinata's hopes and dreams, and tossed it on the carpeted floor of the lunar base like it was worthless. "If she wants to get to know me, she can do it herself. Here, let me give you my number. She can call me."

"It would be improper for a lady to make the first move," Neji said, shaking his head. Did this fool know nothing about common decency?

"Oh," said the stupid sack of excrement. "Too bad then."

Neji took a breath, as his uncle had taught him. Forced himself to think of things cooly, dispassionately. "The training I offered Sasuke. Let me extend it to you as well."

"You know, I misjudged you. You're more perceptive than you look Neji,"The punching bag smiled broadly. "You finally see my potential."

Neji couldn't help but chuckle. "I will teach you the difference between a Hyuga and a low-born peasant such as you."

XOXOXOXOX

Sasuke felt his lips curl upwards, as Neji punted Naruto around in a mobile suit a tenth the size of the blonde idiot's. Kurama and the gray gouf were similar, both utterly reliant on gunbits, but Naruto had nine versus Neji's two, and Naruto's were more mobile and powerful. And yet Neji was pummeling him with ease. It just showed what a deadlast he really was.

The gray gouf slammed a palm strike into Kurama's cockpit, knocking Naruto into the reflective lunar surface. Red warning signs blinked on Sasuke's monitor, and he blasted Susanoo in between the two fighters. "That's enough Neji. Any more and you're going to damage Kurama."

"The fool must be taught a lesson," Neji spat through the comm line. "And I don't see the harm in denting such a horrid shade of orange. Really, there ought to be a limit to how garish a mobile suit can be."

"Bastard, I'll make you pay for insulting Kurama! Believe it!"

"Hnn."Sasuke sighed, and shut the power off Naruto's gundam. It had been a precaution that his father had given him years ago, as the immature pilot had the impulse control of a five-year-old. No use letting simple spars turn into costly brawls. "I thought my name was Bastard? Is that the only insult you know?"

As Naruto spewed defensive nonsense, Neji gave a hearty laugh. A warmth spread in Sasuke's chest, it was nice to train with somebody who didn't always jump to the Idiot's defense.

"Shall we train elsewhere, away from prying eyes?" Sasuke asked. "I wouldn't want you sharing Hyuga secrets in front of such an irresponsible jackass."

The gray gouf glanced at Naruo's deactivated, impotent gundam. "No. I want the idiot to see how two Newtypes with actual talent fight. I want him to see that it is his destiny to grovel on the ground as a deadlast, while those blessed with god given abilities fly above him."

Newtype, that was apparently what he was. Some kind of space esper, or so Naruto had explained after telling them about Zabuza and Haku, the two pilots they'd apparently been fighting. Sasuke would have thought it idiotic nonsense, if he hadn't experienced it himself, and if Neji- a man of high character- wasn't there to confirm the information. He wanted to know more about his newfound abilities, but there was a more pressing thing he had to confirm first.

"You've heard me call him Idiot and Deadlast?" Sasuke inquired sharply.

"No," Neji said, confirming Sasuke's suspicions. "But it seems natural to call a bird a bird, a cage a cage, and a Deadlast Idiot a Deadlast Idiot."

"Hnn," Sasuke agreed happily, and followed the gray gouf of The Red Cross into the lunar sky.

"Turn off your lights," Neji instructed. They were on the dark side of the moon, and without the lights from their mobile suits they would be in utter darkness. They'd be doing sensory deprivation training then, like when Luke practiced using his lightsaber against the training droid, or when Goku trained with Popo atop Kami's lookout. "Now try to compress your thoughts, your anxieties, your instincts into a small, tight section of your mind."

Sasuke didn't know what he meant by that, but tried his best to comply. Flashes of light blasted around Susanoo, reflecting off his shield.

"Dodge but do not look," Neji said. "Your Newtype abilities are inside you, all that exists in the universe is inside you, to look outside is to blind yourself, to view illusions. The truth is always inward."

The gunbits hovered around Susanoo, hitting it with small precise laser beams. Sasuke ignored them, ignored the whining of his internal monologue, and instead tried to block everything out but his instincts. He tried to make them more clear, more aligned with his actions, he turned control of Susanoo over to his subconscious. His movements became more fluid, quicker, more reactive, but he was not flying at the level he had been when fighting Zabuza.

"Compress your instincts into a seed," Neji instructed. "And then break the seed and expand your being beyond yourself."

But Sasuke couldn't. He could make his instincts more clear, more reliable, his reaction time a fraction of what it had been before, he could compress them into something smaller and more comprehensible, but he could not break that seed into anything meaningful. He was simply entering a state of flow, but he could not go farther beyond.

"Impressive for a Coordinator," Neji sighed, calling off his gunbits. "For an Uchiha, you have done well. You on the other hand…" Neji looked down his nose at Naruto. "You are an incompetent pilot whose accomplishments have only come from possessing a mobile suit with superior specs."

"All pilots owe their accomplishments to their suits," Naruto grumbled, following them back to their lunar base.

Sasuke had a sinking feeling that he would have to side with Naruto in the coming argument, so he preempted it. "You keep calling me Uchiha, Neji, but I've never heard of them. Who are they?"

"Hnn," Neji said. "The Uchiha were descendants of those Hyuga's who allowed scientists to meddle with things that they ought not to have meddled with. They, along with the Senju Clan, helped build the first permanent settlement in space, The Forest Colony. However they were power hungry, and always plotting for power. My uncle suspects that they were the family behind Bloody Sunday, that it was their lust for dominance that drove the Second Solar War."

The trio broke into a comfortable silence.

"...I thought you liked Sasuke," Naruto said eventually. "If the Uchiha have done so many horrible things why do you keep calling him one?"

"Because they were excellent pilots," Neji said smoothly. "And were thus worthy of respect."

"Hnn," Sasuke murmured, not quite sure if he agreed with the logic. Whatever, today had been a good day.

Sasuke was glad to have learned about his potential abilities as a Newtype, glad to have learned about the Uchihas, but he was even more excited that he'd strengthened his bond with Neji. It was the first friendship he'd formed since losing Itachi, and meant a lot. He'd thought himself no longer capable of connecting with another. Sasuke furrowed his brow. He would be silent about this of course, only fruits shared their affections for one another aloud.

XOXOXOXOX

The rest of the squad had deployed, and were probably already halfway to the battlefield. Only Naruto had been held back. It was annoying, yes, but Naruto had a bad feeling about this meeting, especially because of the Old Man's dour expression. Sure some people thought the Old Man hid his emotions behind a metaphorical wooden mask, but Naruto could tell he was extremely upset. It was his elbows, the Old Man had them resting against the wooden table, he'd never be so careless unless he had more on his mind.

"Naruto," the Old Man tried to force himself to smile, resulting in a twisted expression. "Have you ever considered, perhaps, an ordinary civilian life?"

"No," Naruto said, smacking the table. "Because I'm Naruto Shimura, and I'm gonna become the best pilot in the solar system. Believe it!"

"On what evidence?" Asked the Old Man, resting his hands on the table. "In every mission you either struggle to meet objectives or outright fail them. It is a risk to your team, and Kurama alike. A mobile suit is not a toy, and Kurama does not belong to you, or even me. He belongs to humanity. He is not ours to treat carelessly."

"I understand," Naruto said.

"I know you do," the Old Man said flatly. "The others, support staff and fellow pilots alike, believe you to be a reckless child. It would be better if you were. I know you care about Kurama, I know you would never willingly harm him, and I know you have always tried your best. You've worked harder than Shino, Shikamaru, and even my son Sasuke. I see the technical manuals you've read, I see the hours logged in the flight simulators, and I see your dedication to the gym. A pep talk from me, more discipline from you, neither would address the fundamental problem. It is a matter of ability, it is a matter of talent. This is not easy for me Naruto, but the events in Heliopolis, getting gunned down by untrained goufs, these are not results befitting a gundam pilot. Give me the keys to Kurama."

Naruto fished them out of his pocket. They were almost ceremonial, the gundam needed retina scans and fingerprints as well, but nevertheless turning over the keys meant relinquishing Kurama. He didn't want to be the pilot of any other mobile suit. He knew that without superior specs, he'd never be able to compete with Coordinators like Sasuke or Newtypes like Neji.

The Old Man shook his hand expectantly. "Is there a problem soldier?"

"No sir," Naruto handed him the keys. Without Kurama he'd just be another mediocre pilot. "Just let me pilot him one more time. I know I can take Zabuza if I've got Kurama by my side, and I want this mission to succeed. I believe in what we're doing. I want to maintain peace."

"Fine." The Old Man frowned. "But… If you fail, if Kurama is damaged as he was in your last mission, I want you to give up on your dreams. Attend high school. Live a normal, civilian life. You're not suited to be a soldier."

"Deal," Naruto said immediately. "Me and Kurama will return without a scratch, and force you to acknowledge us!"

"Scratches are fine, just don't give him back to me with significant structural damage," the Old Man sighed. He hooked Kurama to his computer, and updated his software. It was a long process, with the Old Man manually looking through portions of code. Naruto could see some basic for loops, but the majority of it was beyond him. The Old Man would occasionally say things like, 'that's different', or 'how did that get there', or 'hnn' all while lost in thought. He was really a programmer at heart, not a military man. Soon he was done, and Kurama was ready to spring back into the action.

"Itachi called me before the mission," Naruto said. "He told me-"

"I am well aware," the Old Man said. "You did well to tell Shikamaru, and no one else."

"Sasuke deserves to know! You should tell him!"

"Itachi is on an important mission," the Old Man said sternly. "When it comes to Sasuke he is… Imperfect, and he cannot afford to be imperfect. We fight for humanity's peace and prosperity. Itachi fights for humanity's very survival. We cannot allow my soft-hearted son to jeopardize his mission. I order you to keep Itachi's status a secret from Sasuke."

"..."

"Soldier?"

"...Yes sir," Naruto said reluctantly. It really had to come from the Old Man anyways. There were too many questions he didn't know the answer to. Sasuke would go off the rails if Itachi was involved, he might abandon them altogether to chase after his older brother.

"It is true by the way," the Old Man said carefully. "What Itachi told you. You are a Natural. That is why you are deficient. It is not your fault that you can not keep up with the others, I do not hate you for what you are, but it does not matter. You are a liability. You are inferior. No matter how much you train, you will always hold the rest of the team back. It was your destiny, from the moment your mother decided not to have you altered. It can not be changed."

"Yes it can!" Naruto said, as Kurama blasted towards the asteroid field. "Believe it!"

"Go," said the Old Man. Naruto could not see Fugaku as he followed after his squadron, but if he could, he would have seen the rarest of sights on the hardened man's face.

A gentle smile.

XOXOXOX

"They should have attacked by now," Neji said. The fifth of ten red x's turned into a green checkmark. Great, even the most arrogant pilot Shikamaru had ever met was worried. "Something's off."

"You said you had ESP?" Shikamaru asked. He wouldn't have believed it if he hadn't witnessed Neji fighting himself. Because he had, he'd utilize the new tool for all it was worth. "Are your instincts telling you that there's any danger?"

"No," Neji said. "And your plan was logical. I still think that. But all my experience is telling me we're missing something."

"Agreed," Shino said. "Something is off. There is some detail you've overlooked."

Two more red x's turned into green checkmarks. Seven out of ten explosives they'd planted had been detonated. Only three more.

Shikamaru's subconscious was screaming that he'd missed something. But he hadn't. He trusted logic and reason, or at least structured strategy. He wasn't like most pilots. He didn't go with his gut, he went with his mind. That was the only reason why he led. With that said, there was no harm in going over the plan one more time

He had suggested that Sasuke, along with a puppet drone superficially modelled after Neji's gray gouf mobile suit, be in charge of planting and detonating the explosives which would deccelerate their proto moon, Ceres, into a safe orbit around Europa.

Meanwhile the trio of Shikamaru, Shino, and Neji would plant and detonate the explosives that would ultimately speed up the proto moon and give it the initial push to Europa. If they failed, and Sasuke succeeded, Europa would stay under the fascist rule of Gato. If they succeeded, and Sasuke failed, their proto moon would crash into Europa destroying all life on the planet. That was the absolute worst case scenario for all parties involved.

Gato wouldn't want that. Shikamaru was simply betting that Gato had his own engineers, and he was aware of the implications of what the two teams were doing. Gato would try, with all his might, to sabotage the efforts of Shikamaru, Shino, and Neji, but would leave Sasuke all alone no matter what. Even if his power base was fractured, he was still better off than with his entire planet, with all its citizens-himself included- destroyed and dead.

But Shikamaru knew well enough that Gato wasn't the only part of the equation he needed to worry about. Even without a saboteur, Sasuke's timing would need to be near perfect. They needed their best pilot on the job that kept their proto moon, Ceres, from crashing into Europa, despite the fact that the other group was much more likely to be attacked.

That was the reason for the asymmetrical split in the team. At any moment, Zabuza and Haku would attack them. Shikamaru had a plan for that, but the chances of it succeeding were only 30%. He planted another explosive, checked the map, and wiped his brow. Ten out of ten planted, eight out of ten detonated. "How's everyone doing? Shino, have you picked anything up yet? Any suspicious movement?"

"Negative."

Shikamaru frowned. The longer his squadron went unopposed, the more likely their plan was to succeed. That was the case no matter their opponent's strategy. Once they'd detonated all ten explosives the mission would almost certainly be a success. That would be the case even if the opponent took them all out.

"Nine out of ten," Neji said. "And still no sign of the enemy. Is it possible they've confused our group with Sasuke?"

"No," Shikamaru said. "The physics dictates where the explosives have to be. They should know that we have to be here, and Sasuke has to be there."

They should have attacked by now. Why hadn't they? He was missing something, but what? He reviewed all the information, but nothing came to mind.

Red warning lights flashed on his display. Enemies? No. A countdown. Ten, nine, eight…

He had to detonate the last explosive or Ceres would fall harmlessly into Jupiter. All he had to do was blow the bomb. At that point, contingent on Sasuke, the mission would be a success, no matter what Zabuza did.

Why hadn't the enemy attacked yet? What were they waiting for?

"Shikamaru?" Asked Shino.

...Three, two- Shikamaru detonated the last explosive. Still no enemy and the last explosive had been detonated. The mission…. The mission was a success?

Shikamaru sighed. Maybe Zabuza simply hadn't been able to repair his mobile suit in time? But then why wouldn't Gato have simply hired somebody else? Maybe he didn't have the funds? This wasn't a cartoon, this wasn't a story, there didn't need to be some confrontation before the end of the mission. Most likely, simple logistics had made a sabotage mission impossible.

He toggled the camera, switched it to long range, so he could get a view on Ceres. He saw one asteroid swing past three much larger ones, impacting their trajectory ever so slightly, making them hammer into the proto moon in colossal collisions several magnitudes larger than a Hydrogen Bomb. The process repeated, again and again, as Ceres started to recede farther and farther from the asteroid field, slowly picking up speed like an object in free fall.

A green comm line appeared on Shikamaru's monitor, from a number he'd never seen before. This must've been from the enemy. Why call now? The damage was done, the mission was over. Shikamaru couldn't put Ceres back in orbit if he wanted to. But no matter how he felt, free intel was free intel. With great trepidation, he picked up the call.

"That was a beautiful show you put on!" Said the caller enthusiastically.

"Identify yourself!"

"I'm your newest fan... Yeah!" Sung the voice, in a way that reminded Shikamaru of all of Naruto's most irritating traits. "So fleeting, so flat, true art is a bang!"

"Are you the pilot of the ice colored gouf?" Neji asked.

"Those weaklings we hired to give you a little scare?" The voice cackled gleefully, then darkened. "They're after the other one, and they'd better not ruin my magnum opus... Yeah!"

"Enough yapping," a new voice snapped. "Let's hurry and complete the mission."

And two zakus emerged from the depths of an asteroid, dust floating off, revealing black and red exteriors. They must have been there all along, waiting for them since the start of the mission, but why show themselves now and not earli-

Black with red clouds. Their coats matched the description of mobile suits he'd been warned about... By Itachi. Everything clicked into place. Itachi had called them, he'd risked his cover to warn them. Of course the threat had been imminent. They had been the targets all along. These people couldn't have cared less about Europa. This was the group Itachi had warned them about.

This was the Akatsuki.

"Guys," Shikamaru said. He'd screwed up big time, and now there was only one thing left to do. "RUN!"

**Author's Note: **Trigger Warning. In the next chapter, there will be blood.


	9. New Moon Rising Part 5

After Neji's training, the silver zaku wasn't so tough. Sasuke had been attacked after he'd planted his third explosive. Was it stressful, knowing he had to detonate seven more bombs at exact times? Maybe if he was a sorry punk.

But he was Sasuke Shimura… No, Sasuke smirked... He was Sasuke Uchiha, the Newtype, the Coordinator, the most talented, the most special pilot in the entire solar system. Why worry that millions of people would die when the chance of failure was 0%? A million times zero was still zero.

His instincts tingled, and he activated his thrusters, dodging the silver zaku's wild swing easily. It was so simple to avoid the zaku's attacks now, it was like it was moving in slow motion. Every attack felt so telegraphed. He slashed the zaku wildly with his beam sword, who parried the blow with ease. Sasuke left a hole in his right guard, and the zaku took the bait. Sasuke blocked the strike with his beam sword, and the two mobile suits wrestled with their blades for dominance. The zaku was putting too much power into his claymore, his center was exposed. He slammed a knee into the zaku's cockpit, knocking the fool into a nearby asteroid. The zaku's shields flickered and dropped. It stared at Sasuke, but did not attack again.

This was just too much fun. He opened up the comm line. "What's the matter Zabuza? You seem scared. You've never really flown until you've fought an experienced Newtype before. You're no pilot."

"Haku, you're up." Zabuza growled through the comm line. Sasuke laughed and went in for the kill. It had been fun giving himself a little challenge, fighting that big oaf while simultaneously detonating the explosive but he was on a mission after all. He had to be professional.

His ball of compressed instincts tingled. He slammed on the brakes and watched a small laser beam flash in front of him.

The icy gouf, which had been observing from a distance holstered its beam rifle, and flew towards him. Three gunbits flew out from its back. So this pilot was like Neji then. Although Naruto had warned him that Haku was a powerful Newtype, Sasuke wasn't worried. He'd seen Haku's picture after he'd fought Zabuza, when it had been sent over to him as a verification of identity. He wasn't gonna lose to some creepy, crossdressing _fruit_.

A few of the gunbits fired, but Sasuke dodged the shots with ease. More precise than Naruto, more firepower than Neji, still nothing to worry about. After all, he was _The Sasuke Uchiha. _Huh?

Sasuke ducked another laser, and swayed past another. Weren't there too many? His instincts flared, but it was too late. He'd taken a shot to the right foot. He toggled the cameras, where had that stupid laser come from? The gunbits danced around him, still firing. He knew where they were, he'd expanded his senses, he could feel them like they were a part of his body, and he could easily avoid any lasers they fired. So what the hell had happened? How had an attack slipped past his defense? It was perfect. He was perfect. It must have been a fluke, it wouldn't happen again.

His monitor flashed red, alarms ringing in Susanoo. He kept getting hit, he kept taking damage, and Haku's attacks were stronger than Neji's. Shit! Another alarm!

"Ten, nine, eight," said Susanoo's gravelly automated voice. He had to plant and detonate the fourth bomb, but that damn tiny icy gouf was in his way. He didn't have time to sit back and observe, come up with some brilliant plan like Itachi would have, instead he'd have to charge in idiotically, like Naruto.

"Five, four…" Sasuke grinned savagely. Honestly, he'd always preferred Naruto's methods to Itachi's. He blasted straight towards Haku's candy ass, and that little twerp scooted right out of his way. "Three, two…"

No time to consult the monitor. Sasuke planted the bomb as his instincts guided him, and slammed his thumb on the detonation button. A green check mark appeared on his monitor. Six more to go.

"Haku," Zabuza barked. "What the hell are you doing? Take the shot!"

Sasuke twirled around. Haku had snuck behind him, and had his beam cannon pressed directly against his cockpit. He smacked the barrel of the cannon away, and a beam of light sawed a nearby meteor in half.

Haku blasted away, creating a safe distance.

Sasuke broke into a cold sweat. He understood what had just happened. Haku had fired the shot the moment he'd known it would miss, and not a second sooner. It was something Itachi used to do, when Father watched them spar. Try to make Sasuke look good, try to make him seem like less of a disappointment, it had been so humiliating. This crossdressing man-woman was closer to his older brother's level than he was to Sasuke's. This wasn't a fight. This was a mismatch.

"Stop stalling Haku, finish the brat off!"

"Ten, nine, eight!" Susanoo started chanting. Sasuke slammed on his thrusters, he had to make the next checkpoint or millions of lives, all of Europa, oh god, all those people would die. He wasn't good enough to complete this mission. This wasn't fun. What had he been thinking, acting like he was some prodigy? He was no Itachi.

"Neji," he called on the comm line to the rest of the squadron. "I need reinforcements immediately!" The line was static. Fuck. Somehow he managed to detonate the fifth bomb, but Haku had hit his shield with lasers until it had given out. His back thrusters had been melted off as well.

If he couldn't get help from the rest of the squad there was only one other place to look. He checked the earth lines, checked for Naruto, but he was still out of range. He'd send a message then. He opened up Susanoo's messenger application. Huh? An incoming video file addressed to him had been sent from Father. Hopefully reinforcement, no hopefully it was that Neji's squad had failed, and Ceres hadn't gotten out of the asteroid field. That way when Sasuke failed it wouldn't crash into Europa. He opened up the video and hit play.

"Things have changed Sasuke. It has come to my attention that this mission has become irreversibly compromised," Father was displaying emotions Sasuke had never seen before. He was speaking quickly, desperately, his eyes were red and his nose was runny. "Your orders are to abandon this mission immediately. Retreat anywhere you see fit. I'm privy to the plan, I know the number of civilian casualties will be catastrophic." Father sniffled pathetically, and started sobbing like a woman. "It is my fault. I am your commanding officer and I gave you orders you cannot possibly complete. Forget them. They do not matter. I love you Sasuke. I have always loved you, I will always love you, no matter what you do. I care about you more than peace, I need you to-"

Sasuke turned off the video. Father he- Sasuke couldn't- Everything seemed tinted red. He couldn't stop his hands from shaking, he couldn't regulate his breathing. Never had he been… Never… So…

LIVID! Enraged! His blood boiled. Something was wrong with his vision, he was seeing double.

Haku shot another laser, this time at his foot. He dodged it easily, and felt, he saw the lasers trajectory, saw it without looking somehow. It kept travelling, until it hit a meteorite of ice, reflected off the smooth surfaces, until it sprang at Sasuke from behind. He dodged that blast too.

His powers had grown. His instincts, compressed as they'd been, had moved into his eyes and expanded. Something had changed within him, allowing him to surpass his previous capabilities. He was flying faster, he was flying smoother, he was seeing more, and he was reacting quicker. A laser slammed into his thigh, and he hacked at Haku's shield with one of his knives.

Haku was still a hell of a fighter. He dodged a slash from Zabuza's claymore, and returned fire with his beam rifle. One of Haku's gunbits darted in front of his shot, and took the hit, exploding in a great ball of fire.

"Ten, nine, eight…" Susanoo began another countdown. Sasuke had grown but the odds were still against him. Things were still dire. The fate of a world still rested in his hands.

Sasuke smiled, and hit the accelerator.

Bring it!

XOXOXOXOX

Shikamaru had never fought anyone like the Akatsuki pilot before. His mobile suit was less of a mobile suit and more of an aircraft carrier. Dozens of drones had flown out of his back, unfolding and assembling themselves like tents, until they were as large as full sized zaku. Most hovered in the distance, ready to pounce on them if they ran. Only one fought.

He was quite sure they were being tested. The only drone that fought was bright red, with a single blaster rifle. It was undersized, and built from technology that was at least twenty years old. It was slow, small, and could barely withstand the blasts from its own rifle.

Of course Shikamaru had recognized it immediately, as anyone in the solar system would. This was The Red Comet, the most decorated fighter of the First Solar War, who was universally recognized as the greatest of all time.

Luckily it was just a program imitating the actual Comet. It couldn't quite mimic the original's inhuman fighting style. Still, his shadow whip had been blown to smithereens, the thrusters on Shadow Gundam's hands were toast, and half of Shino's haros had been blown away.

"Shino," Shikamaru said. "We're running. Hide us in a swarm of haros. Make sure they're buzzing around us, and turn off your shields. We want chaos. Their aim is to capture our mobile suits, and hopefully they'll let us go rather than destroy them."

"And Nej-" Shino flinched, as The Red Comet sniped three of his haros in a single shot. "We cannot leave him."

Shikamaru toggled his cameras, until he got a good view of the fight between Neji and Deidara.

Neji's was down to a single gunbit, and his gray suit was covered in pock-like burn marks. The gunbit danced around the small black zaku, firing at it as it bounced from asteroid to asteroid, until one of the asteroids exploded, stunning the tiny gouf.

"Take your time Nara," said a cruel voice over the comm line. "As I am sure you have ascertained, part of our mission is to assess you. It would be most convenient if you could hatch one of the devious plans for which your lineage is renowned."

What the hell was that about? Why was he being called a Nara? No- it didn't matter. Shino was right, Neji had saved their asses against Zabuza, Shikamaru had to find a way to repay the favor.

"Go on Aburame. Nara. Help your friend against my colleague." The army of zakus parted ominously. "Oh yes, it would be best if you had this."

The giant zaku threw something at him. A perfect replica of his shadow whip.

"Hmm? What's this? Are you giving them to me Sasori?" Asked a gleeful voice over the comm line.

"I must see how they form and execute plans. Do not attack those two until they are ready, and have joined the fight of their own volition. And Deidara," said Sasori impatiently. "The organization would be most displeased if you blew them up. Keep that in mind."

"They just don't understand art," Deidara said. "An exploding gundam! Beautiful... Yeah!"

"We have given you Europa," Sasori snapped. "That should be more than enough!"

"Fine master," Deidara said, whooping as he grabbed hold of one of Neji's arms. It was gonna be okay, Neji still had his shield generator up. "You should learn how to appreciate the moment old man. True art is a blast!"

Neji's arm exploded like it was made out of dynamite. His shield generator backfired, trapping the explosion within its walls rather than simply nullifying it. Neji's gouf had caught fire. Shino rushed to his side, his haros swarming around the fire, exploding their coolant tanks to extinguish the flames.

"I apologize." Neji coughed through the comm lines. "These pilots are destined to be victorious. We should have fled, as you suggested. It was foolish to think that a mere member of the branch family could stand up to them."

"Shut up," Shikamaru said. "We can still make it out. Shino, you remember the plan we went over earlier? We're going with it."

"Yes sir," Shino said, and a crowd of haros surrounded them like a hoard of locusts. He toggled his cameras. Like a strobe light, he caught brief, obscured pictures of the two black and red zakus. The smaller of the duo dove at them, arms extended.

"Deidara," Sasori screamed. "You must keep the two weaklings alive!"

And all of a sudden the haros started exploding, one after another, in a runaway chain reaction. But the explosions were small, not nearly powerful enough to pierce a mobile suit's armor, even with its shield generator. Soon enough, their haro cover was gone.

Neji was the first to move, his thrusters sparkling with a strong surge of energetic protons, firing on a capacity above maximum. In moments they'd overheat and fail, but before even that could happen the gray gouf had been corralled by Deidara's zaku.

"Can I master?"

"You may."

Shikamaru stood frozen. He watched as Shino upholstered his beam cannon and fired a desperation shot at the two mobile suits, missing badly. Shikamaru couldn't even do that, it was like he wasn't there, even though he knew what was about to happen.

"Hehehehehe," Deidara laughed insanely.

"Tell Hinata I lo-"

"Boom!" Deidara whooped. The gray gouf exploded, small bits of steel disintegrating on Shadow Gundam's shield generator. "How was that master? Have I convinced you?"

"He would have been more beautiful as a doll," Sasori grumbled. "Now collect those two so we can make sure we capture our primary target."

So they were going after Sasuke next, Shikamaru thought dimly. Sasori disabled Shadow and Bug Gundam using some modification of his own shadow whip. A second later, and all the thrusters and boosters were sliced from their suits.

Escape was well and truly impossible. His finger hovered over the self destruct button. It was his duty, he could not let these criminals have access to gundam technology. He didn't like Fugaku, he didn't buy into everything he said like the rest of the squad did, but it was clear that these were dangerous, insane people who had captured them. Killing Neji, destroying Europa, by any objective measure these were people who needed to be eliminated.

But he couldn't do it. He couldn't press the button. He couldn't kill himself despite it being his duty, despite it being the right thing to do. He hung his head.

Shikamaru was a coward.

"The self destruct button is not working," Shino said. "What do we do? What is the plan?"

He didn't know. He'd ignored Itachi's warning, he'd thought splitting up with Sasuke had been a good idea, he'd thought the haro's would provide sufficient cover... he'd thought… he'd thought...

He'd thought wrong. And now, because of him, Neji was dead.

XOXOXOXOX

**Author's Note: **Short episode this week, but I thought it was only appropriate to end with Neji's death. Next time, Naruto finally enters the fight.


	10. New Moon Rising Part 6

There were two ways to think about mass, according to physics. The first was gravitationally. More massive things had a larger gravitational field. It was this property of mass that necessitated their creation of a proto moon for Europa in the first place. The second was inertially. Objects in motion tended to stay in motion, and the more massive a thing was the more difficult it was to change its motion. It was this second property which doomed Sasuke.

Susanoo was simply too large to maneuver at the same rate as Haku's gunbits. He could know where they were going to fire, he could know what he had to do, but it didn't matter. The gunbits, with their tiny masses, were faster. It was a problem of physics, not ability.

Still, he knew he was a better pilot than Haku. That had to matter. He overclocked a thruster and a laser beam slammed into the armored part of his hip. He still took damage, but thanks to Sasuke's superior reflexes he kept the ever vital thrusters and boosters.

Red x's flashed everywhere on his monitor. He was fighting a losing battle, and he had to detonate all the explosives. It was more important than his ship, it was more important than his life, if he missed a single detonation Ceres would collide with Europa destroying both moons and the entirety of the Rain Colony.

He had to be better. Had to push himself even further. He toggled his cameras until he found Haku's icy gouf.

"Ten, nine, eight…" Another countdown. Haku and Zabuza both floated between him, and the asteroid he needed to detonate. He blasted towards them. Zabuza's silver zaku split in two, one image representing when he stood currently, the other how he'd be swinging his claymore in half a second. Sasuke could have countered with a combat knife to a thruster, disabling him permanently, but that would take time that Sasuke didn't have. Easily, he was around the big oaf, leaving Haku as his only obstacle. But Haku's icy gouf, its image didn't split. It fractured into three possibilities which fractured further as Sasuke countered any single attack.

"Five, four…" He didn't have time to keep considering. Three images of Haku leapt forward, stabbing at him with a combat knife. He ducked under two of them, but felt the thruster on his right shoulder fail. He'd dodged the wrong projection of the future.

"...Two, one, zero…"

Sasuke stared at the asteroid blankly. He'd been too slow… The red x turned into a green check. He caught a flash of orange on a peripheral camera.

"Bastard, have no fear," the Idiot bloviated. "For your hero, the great Naruto Shimura, is here."

He was actually relieved for once that the Idiot was with him on a mission. This was a two man job, and even someone as incompetent as Naruto evened the odds significantly.

"Idiot, listen closely," Sasuke said quickly, ducking a few blasts from Haku's gunbits. "I need you to detonate the rest of the explosives while I distract Haku and Zabuza. If we work together, this mission can still be a success."

"But what about you Bastard?" this Idiot asked, defying all logic and talking rather than following a simple order. "I monitored the battle for a while and you were getting your ass kicked. If I leave you here with these two they'll ki-"

"I don't matter Idiot," Sasuke barked. "If we fail millions will die."

"Then we'll just have to win quickly." Naruto flew Kurama right next to him. "I'm not leaving you Sasuke."

Sasuke sighed. What had he even expected? If their roles were reversed, and Naruto had asked him to abandon him and complete the mission, Sasuke would have done the same damn thing. Ignore orders and help his best friend. "Let's beat these losers Naruto!"

XOXOXOXOXOX

"It's time, it's time," the murderer, Deidara, squealed, with an exuberance that Shikamaru couldn't help but compare to Naruto. "The moon is falling! The moon is falling!"

"Yes," said Sasori dryly, as the giant planetoid Ceres approached closer and closer to Europa. There was an x, at which point its momentum couldn't be stopped, and impact was inevitable. Their proto moon was approaching it quickly, but Sasuke had been doing his job so far...

"And when it falls it'll be like kablooey! Bang! Kaboom! Well, not really, but can you imagine it? Two planet sized objects colliding in a super exp-"

"Will you shut up!" Shikamaru snapped. "Millions of people are going to die because of you! Why even do this? The gundams I understand, but why destroy the Rain Colony?"

"Why? Why do we humans do anything?" The murderer, Deidara, asked, rambling madly. "I wish to show the universe an explosion of an order unseen since the formation of the solar system. Millions killed, planets ripped apart, such a moment will stand out from all others. Now that is art… Yeah!"

Sasori snorted dismissively. "True art lasts forever youngun'. If something is over in an instant, no matter its beauty, that's just a moment. It's life. Art is the act of preserving a moment in life and sharing it with the world indefinitely."

"You don't understand master," the murderer, Deidara, said, for the first time irritated. "All that exists is the now. Art isn't about preserving and looking backwards, it's about expanding yourself in the current moment. True art is about creation and change, not preservation!"

"Foolish youngling," Sasori said.

"Old stickler! You'll see master," the murderer, Deidara, said. "My magnum opus will make even you a believer… Yeah!"

"I still think we should go to the rendezvous point first," Sasori complained. "We can view your little art show later. The rest of the group will leave if we don't hurry."

"Not. On. My. Life." The murderer, Deidara, said doggedly. "We're confirming my art will come to pass, then we'll go to the rendezvous point and give them the goods, and finally we will watch as planets explodes… Yeah!"

"Fine, fine," Sasori said. "But I won't protect you if it angers our leader."

"It won't be too much longer now."

The murderer, Deidara, was right unfortunately. Ceres ticked closer and closer to the point of no return. C'mon Sasuke, Naruto. Shikamaru knew they could do it. They had to be able to do it.

"Almost there! Almost there!" The murderer, Deidara, chanted.

Sasuke always pulled through in the end. No matter the odds, he always pulled through.

"Yes! Yes! Yes!" The murderer, Deidara, was sobbing tears of joy. The small black and red zaku actually hugged Shadow Gundam. "This is so wonderful, so beautiful! I couldn't have done it without you two!"

Impossible. Shikamaru did the calculations by hand. He rechecked them. Did them again. He had to have made a mistake. This couldn't be possible.

"Ceres and Europa, sitting on a tree, k-i-s-s-i-n-g!" The murderer, Deidara, sang. "Only god himself could stop this beautiful big bang now!"

It was true. The destruction of Europa was inevitable.

The mission had been a catastrophic failure.

XOXOXOXOX

"Alls we's gotta do is beat these assholes and then detonate the explosives," Naruto lectured. Really, Sasuke was making too much of a big deal about their opponents. They'd fought tons of strong guys before, and they'd always come out on top. There was nothing to worry about. "Easy-peasy-lemon-squeez-"

He was hit three times in succession, lost his shields, and the booster on his back. Kurama's red sirens wailed in pain. Naruto blinked. Huh? What had just happened?

"Move Idiot!"

Naruto slammed on a pedal, boosting his ship in a random direction. What the? The icy gouf was right in his grill, sticking a small beam rifle at his cockpit. Whoa, he pulled a lever, blasted his thrusters and narrowly avoided incineration. "These guys are on another level. I barely dodged that-"

"Idiot," Sasuke said. "Can't you tell he-"

"Haku!" That douchebag Zabuza barked. "What have I told you about missing on purpose? There is no place for that on the battlefield. If you weren't fighting such a weakling it would get you killed. Now harden your heart and fight to kill."

"Yes master." Haku said meekly. The icy gouf stared at Kurama, camouflaged by the meteorite it was standing on, until blasting away in the opposite direction, narrowly avoiding a slash from Susanoo's lightsaber.

"I guess it's just me and you now," Zabuza laughed, his silver zaku flying up to Naruto, dodging blasts from Kurama's gunbits like they weren't even there. He stopped 300 yards from Naruto. "My offer still stands _little Natural_. If you run, I'll kill you quick. Hell, because I'm such a nice guy I'll even give you a ten second head start."

Okay then. Naruto toggled on his map, and blasted off. He heard Zabuza cackling over the comm line, and pulled up his display. Thirty, twenty, he maneuvered around an asteroid. Ten, zero. He was within range, and initiated the detonation wearing a devious smirk.

"Great job Naruto," Sasuke said, sounding surprised. "I don't know how you got him to just let you go like that, but we've still got two more to go."

Naruto slammed on the accelerators to get to the next checkpoint. Zabuza was on his tail, and closing in. Kurama had faster specs, but everytime he had to go around an asteroid or meteor, every turn, every transition of thruster to booster to accelerator he lost ground. Zabuza was simply a more skillful pilot. But Kurama was a better mobile suit, and Naruto wasn't too proud to press that advantage. He told his gunbits to fly behind him, and slow Zabuza down. Even the simple zig-zagging to dodge their fire would be enough.

He toggled to a rear camera and groaned. Zabuza was using his claymore as a lightsaber, and deflecting the lasers from his gunbits like he was a friggin' jedi. What a bunch of bullshit! Whatever, the great Naruto Shimura never ran out of tricks! He directed a gunbit to push an asteroid in front of the silver zaku, but it was simply sliced in half as Zabuza gained and gained.

Naruto got to the ninth checkpoint and detonated the explosion somehow, but he couldn't keep running. He turned to fight Zabuza and prove his worth as a Natural once and for all.

"I'm impressed _little Natural_," Zabuza said, and his voice was open and honest, without a trace of mocking sarcasm. "You keep a clear head through adversity. You've been through many life and death battles before haven't you? If you were a Coordinator, you'd be one hell of a pilot."

Naruto's instincts screamed, and he slammed on his thrusters. Zabuza's claymore screeched against his cockpit, scraping Kurama's orange coat.

"Even a Coordinator whose never flown could have dodged that strike easily," Zabuza said. "But there are only a few Naturals who could avoid disembowelment. You've maxxed out your potential. You said you wanted to become the best pilot in the solar system, well it's not your fault you never will be. Blame your parents for not making you into a Coordinator."

At any time his Newtype powers would kick in. Sasuke had them, so he must've had them too. That must've been why the old man had taken him in. But Zabuza kept toying with him, and Naruto was helpless to do anything about it.

"I told you I'd give a quick death if you ran, and I'm a man of my word." The silver zaku raised its claymore over its head. "Any last words?"

"Not today," Naruto spat defiantly.

Zabuza laughed, and brought his sword crashing down. Naruto was jarred from his seat in Kurama, the impact crashing his head into the side of the cockpit. He blinked, still alive. He went full throttle with his thrusters, boosters, and accelerators, everything to get Kurama away from the swordsman. He kept moving, performing evasive maneuvers blindly, until his vision cleared.

Susanoo had been beheaded. Sasuke had taken the blow for him. His mobile suit had already powered down, with only a slight glow from his cockpit. Zabuza remained, all damage on his mobile suit from before he'd battled Naruto. Haku flew beside him, and started repairing his shield generator.

Naruto stood numbly. Whenever he'd been in trouble, Sasuke had always been the one to save him. But now Sasuke was done for.

"Ten, nine…" Kurama started to countdown. If this mission was going to succeed, he'd have to do it alone.

Naruto clenched his fists. Zabuza was whooping, laughing, calling Sasuke a fool. His shield generators flickered and turned back on.

"Take that back!"

"This is what happens when you give kids real weapons. They throw away their lives like fools. Little Bastard damaged my ship." Zabuza punted Sasuke's cockpit into a nearby asteroid.

Naruto screamed. Charged. His vision red with anger. Zabuza flattened him with the flat of his sword, battering him with it like a club. Naruto's nose crumpled against his control panel, blood sprayed all over the keyboard, seeping into the crevices, mucking up Kurama's machinery. Naruto couldn't breathe, suffocating on his own hot, sticky blood. His peripherals were darkening. He could hear his heart ramming against his chest, the blood in his arteries pulsing so hard he felt like he might explode.

"Five, four…"

"You're weak _little Natural_, you can never compete with a Coordinator!" It was Zabuza's voice through the comm line, but it may as well have been Haku's. Or Ino's. Or the old man's. Or Sasuke's. Or Shikamaru's. Or Shino's.

Or his own.

Naruto roared, and in one last act of defiance he charged. But Naruto wasn't like Sasuke. When he was bloody, tired out of his mind, stressed to hell he fought worse not better. It was a perfectly natural response. He was only human after all.

Zabuza lopped off Kurama's foot with a smooth swing of his sword. Naruto's thrusters, on full blast, forced Kurama into a tailspin. Faster and faster he spun, Naruto's vision blurred, the g forces pushing his blood from his head, manufacturing the beginning of a stroke. The blood that had seeped into the control panel was splattering everywhere.

_I'm not strong enough,_ Naruto thought as his vision darkened, as his consciousness faded. _I'm weak. I've always been weak, and I always will be._

"Two, one, zero!" Not only was he going to be killed, not only had he let his squad, let Sasuke down when he'd needed him most, he'd missed the time limit. Ceres was going to crash into Europa, killing millions.

_I am a failure._

Then let me out of this prison Uzumaki!


End file.
